Current:Home > MarketsHelen Maroulis becomes most decorated US female wrestler after winning bronze medal-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Helen Maroulis becomes most decorated US female wrestler after winning bronze medal
View Date:2024-12-23 14:52:08
PARIS — Helen Maroulis thought about leaving her shoes on the mat Friday, but she never got the sign she was waiting for that her wrestling career is definitely over.
“Yesterday I was like, 'I'm leaving these damn shoes. I don't care what happens, I'm throwing these things. I am leaving them on the mat,' " Maroulis said. "And then I just was like, 'Well, God, I didn't have a clear answer,' and I was like, 'I don't know.' "
Maroulis became the most-decorated female wrestler in U.S. Olympic history Friday, winning her third medal when she pinned Canada's Hannah Taylor 24 seconds into their bronze-medal match at 57 kilograms.
Maroulis, 32, won gold in 2016 (at 53 kg) when she stunned Japan's three-time gold-medalist Saori Yoshia, and bronze in 2020 (at 57 kg) when she barely made it to the games after dealing with the aftereffects of multiple concussions.
She said she came into these Olympics expecting to win another gold, and was disappointed with her semifinal loss Thursday to Japan's Tsugumi Sakurai, the eventual gold-medal winner.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
On Friday, Maroulis said she "balled my eyes out while I was cutting weight" before realizing this was maybe how her career was supposed to end.
"This time was probably the first time that I've really experienced heartbreak in that semifinals," she said. "I've never experienced heartbreak at the Olympics before, which is really, it's a gift, but I think it's also been a gift to experience this cause if I'm going to go into coaching, I think I'll be able to empathize or understand that, whereas before I kind of, I didn't. So this was one of the hardest things in sport to have to pull myself up from, but that means I put my whole heart and body and everything into it, so I don't regret it."
Maroulis said she will pray about her future in the weeks and months ahead and eventually will be led to a clear answer.
The last time she did that, before the 2021 Tokyo Games, she said she "felt like God said, ‘Hey, it's whatever you want. This is the cherry on top if you want to keep going.’ "
"And I was like, ‘Well, I work so hard to get healthy. Why would I stop now? Let me go,’ " she said. "This time around, I've been praying a lot and I still don't know yet, but there's some other things that I want in life. I think there's some things I need to do to take care of myself and my body, and it's like I really love this sport. I love it. And I think I'm just, it's not that I'm holding on because of anything competitively or accolade. It's like I really do just love what I get to do and the way that I experienced God through that has just been really beautiful for me, but I know it's going to come to an end at some point."
Maroulis apologized to reporters as she got choked up when she talked, but said if this is the end of her career she's leaving fulfilled.
"It's a dream," she said. "It's so crazy. I'm so grateful. This is just a dream. I look back on my career and I'm like, I never would've thought as a young girl I could achieve this."
Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (6484)
Related
- Joan says 'Yes!' to 'Golden Bachelorette' finale fantasy beach proposal. Who did she pick?
- Too Hot to Work, Too Hot to Play
- Amazon Prime Day Early Tech Deals: Save on Kindle, Fire Tablet, Ring Doorbell, Smart Televisions and More
- Occidental Seeks Texas Property Tax Abatements to Help Finance its Long-Shot Plan for Removing Carbon Dioxide From the Atmosphere
- Jana Duggar Reveals She's Adjusting to City Life Amid Move Away From Farm
- What you need to know about the debt ceiling as the deadline looms
- A Tennessee company is refusing a U.S. request to recall 67 million air bag inflators
- Daniel Radcliffe Shares Rare Insight Into His Magical New Chapter as a Dad
- Kentucky woman seeking abortion files lawsuit over state bans
- Mauricio Umansky Shares Family Photos With Kyle Richards After Addressing Breakup Speculation
Ranking
- Voters in Oakland oust Mayor Sheng Thao just 2 years into her term
- Meghan Trainor Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Daryl Sabara
- Progress in Baby Steps: Westside Atlanta Lead Cleanup Slowly Earns Trust With Help From Local Institutions
- The New York Times' Sulzberger warns reporters of 'blind spots and echo chambers'
- 'Bizarre:' Naked man arrested after found in crawl space of California woman's home
- Tom Holland Says His and Zendaya’s Love Is “Worth Its Weight In Gold”
- Khloe Kardashian Labels Kanye West a Car Crash in Slow Motion After His Antisemitic Comments
- Ford reverses course and decides to keep AM radio on its vehicles
Recommendation
-
These Yellowstone Gift Guide Picks Will Make You Feel Like You’re on the Dutton Ranch
-
Study Underscores That Exposure to Air Pollution Harms Brain Development in the Very Young
-
Study: Pennsylvania Children Who Live Near Fracking Wells Have Higher Leukemia Risk
-
In Climate-Driven Disasters, Older People and the Disabled Are Most at Risk. Now In-Home Caregivers Are Being Trained in How to Help Them
-
Mississippi woman pleads guilty to stealing Social Security funds
-
Study Underscores That Exposure to Air Pollution Harms Brain Development in the Very Young
-
Why Jennifer Lopez Is Defending Her New Alcohol Brand
-
Racing Driver Dilano van ’T Hoff’s Girlfriend Mourns His Death at Age 18