Patience was key to Maroulis winning gold
By Johnette Howard
ESPN.com
It was the sort of victory that resonates for years, the sight of a colossus in a sport suddenly going down, with all the attendant shock and amazement that comes with that. But even so, it wasn't the Miracle on the Mat it might seem.
American freestyle wrestler Helen Maroulis was only 18 when she was pinned by legendary Japanese wrestler Saori Yoshida in 69 seconds the first time they met. She tore a ligament in her elbow too. Just two years ago, Maroulis was among three Americans chosen to train with Yoshida and some of her Olympic countrywomen at a conference in Japan, which dominates women's freestyle wrestling the way the U.S. owns basketball, and Maroulis says, "I didn't get a single takedown of them the whole time I was there."
But Maroulis learned from it. She pushed herself even more after that. She got a new head coach, won the 2015 world title at a higher weight of 55kg, and by the time she and Yoshida walked out on Aug. 18 for their 53kg gold-medal match, all those years of chasing Yoshida and studying Yoshida on tape, all the real and imagined hours of wrestling against the great Yoshida and watching her from afar, knowing Yoshida was the woman to beat here in Rio even at the age 33, paid off. Because Maroulis had landed on something she was committed to trying now. And the fascinating thing is, it wasn't a throw or a move.
It was a thought: What is it that separated Yoshida from everyone else? And if you could unlock that, wouldn't you have a better chance of being able to beat her?
As Maroulis explained it Friday, "I'm not a great video scouter from a wrestling technician point of view. But I studied her for years and years ... And I just tried to get into her head, tried to get to see what she was thinking. From what I saw, she's just better at being patient [during a match].
"Then I was like, 'When you're used to being patient, knowing someone panics, what happens when you're patient and someone matches you in that? Then you'll be the one to panic.'
"That's the thought I went into the match with."
And?
"It happened," Maroulis said Aug. 19 with a grin.
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ESPN.com
It was the sort of victory that resonates for years, the sight of a colossus in a sport suddenly going down, with all the attendant shock and amazement that comes with that. But even so, it wasn't the Miracle on the Mat it might seem.
American freestyle wrestler Helen Maroulis was only 18 when she was pinned by legendary Japanese wrestler Saori Yoshida in 69 seconds the first time they met. She tore a ligament in her elbow too. Just two years ago, Maroulis was among three Americans chosen to train with Yoshida and some of her Olympic countrywomen at a conference in Japan, which dominates women's freestyle wrestling the way the U.S. owns basketball, and Maroulis says, "I didn't get a single takedown of them the whole time I was there."
But Maroulis learned from it. She pushed herself even more after that. She got a new head coach, won the 2015 world title at a higher weight of 55kg, and by the time she and Yoshida walked out on Aug. 18 for their 53kg gold-medal match, all those years of chasing Yoshida and studying Yoshida on tape, all the real and imagined hours of wrestling against the great Yoshida and watching her from afar, knowing Yoshida was the woman to beat here in Rio even at the age 33, paid off. Because Maroulis had landed on something she was committed to trying now. And the fascinating thing is, it wasn't a throw or a move.
It was a thought: What is it that separated Yoshida from everyone else? And if you could unlock that, wouldn't you have a better chance of being able to beat her?
As Maroulis explained it Friday, "I'm not a great video scouter from a wrestling technician point of view. But I studied her for years and years ... And I just tried to get into her head, tried to get to see what she was thinking. From what I saw, she's just better at being patient [during a match].
"Then I was like, 'When you're used to being patient, knowing someone panics, what happens when you're patient and someone matches you in that? Then you'll be the one to panic.'
"That's the thought I went into the match with."
And?
"It happened," Maroulis said Aug. 19 with a grin.
Read Full Story
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