From life-threatening blood vessel setback to fourth World Championships gold: Helen Maroulis inspires once again

American wrestler Helen Maroulis inspired once again as she won her fourth World title at the 2025 World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb. Despite suffering from a blood vessel problem that hampered her training ahead of the Championships, Maroulis performed impressively and defeated North Korea's Il Sim Son in the finals with a score of 3-2, adding to her impressive medal tally at the World Championships.

This is not the first time Maroulis has suffered from severe injuries. Two years after winning an Olympic gold medal in 2016, Maroulis picked up a head injury while competing in India. She also battled post-traumatic stress disorder, the possibility of an early retirement, multiple concussions, and a torn ligament in her knee.

Maroulis said after winning the world title that she only returned to training about two weeks ago. Her conditioning was affected by this, leading her to end all three of her matches before the final by pinfall. According to United World Wrestling, she said:

"I was like, I'm just going to start working on training because I'm not conditioned enough to go six minutes. I'm literally not conditioned enough. But if I pin, no one has to know that." - Helen Maroulis

Her path to success was not an easy one - Maroulis underwent ocular and vestibular therapies, biofeedback, neuropsychology, and counseling during that period. Despite all these setbacks, she has managed to compete and win at the highest level in wrestling. She now has 8 World Championship medals to her name.

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Helen Maroulis on why returned to competitive wrestling following Paris Olympics

Helen Maroulis with her bronze medal at Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

Helen Maroulis recently revealed why she did not retire from competitive wrestling following the Paris Olympics in 2024. After winning a bronze medal in Paris, Maroulis took a break from the sport and moved to New York to take up jiu-jitsu. In an interview with Olympics.com, she discussed her return to wrestling:

"I've had experience with the forced retirement, I think I just know how fleeting this moment is. So when it's done, it's gone forever. I want to really, really appreciate every moment and maximise as much as I can. And then as long as I could still be the best representative and be the best athlete that I can be, then I want to keep going,"

"Wrestling is my first love, and there's just nothing like it. It’s just such a form of therapy and expression for me so I had to come back."

Helen Maroulis also discussed the possibility of competing at the LA Olympics in 2028. She made history at Rio 2016 by becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic gold in women's freestyle wrestling.