Rockville's Helen Maroulis First American Woman to Win Gold in Wrestling

ROCKVILLE, MD — A Rockville woman has become the first American ever to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling.

Helen Maroulis, 24, became a world champion last year, and this year she found herself facing down her longtime idol, Japan's Saori Yoshida, on the mats at Rio.

Maroulis not only beat her idol — whom she told the Washington Post she has studied religiously for years — but also dealt Yoshida her first loss in years.

As the Post explains, Maroulis began her obsession with the sport of wrestling as a child, following around her older brother to his school wrestling matches and practices, confronting the other boys and challenging them to wrestle her. No matter how much the boys teased and taunted her, she kept at it, the only girl among at least 50 male wrestlers, everywhere she went.

She became so determined that she even went to college in Canada, because no U.S. university recognized women's wrestling as its own sport, instead forcing her to join the men's teams.

Maroulis told USA Today that wrestling her idol was "a great honor" and that she still finds it hard to believe she captured the gold.

Images courtesy of Team USA.