Helen Maroulis woke Wednesday and felt the best she had in a long time. That was a victory.
Maroulis, who in Rio became the first U.S. Olympic female wrestling champion during a run as one of the planet’s dominant athletes, was pinned this morning in her 57kg first-round match at the world championships in Budapest.
Maroulis gave up a point at worlds for the first time since 2014. She won her previous 10 matches by a combined 97-0, bagging two world titles. No other U.S. wrestler had gone unscored on at an Olympics or worlds the previous 30 years.