Top Stories of the Decade

Helen Maroulis Makes History, Upends Saori Yoshida at Rio 2016

Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19 By Ken Marantz

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 23) -- Helen MAROULIS (USA) went into the 53kg final at the Rio 2016 Olympics knowing about as much as one could about her opponent. Granted, it wasn't hard to be familiar with Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), given that with three Olympic and 13 world golds to her name, she was already among the most famous wrestlers on the planet. And the American had some first-hand knowledge, having lost to Yoshida by fall in two previous meetings.

But Maroulis knew that if she wanted to fulfill her dream of becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic wrestling gold, the path had to go through Yoshida, so she did extra homework on the superstar, including having videos interviews translated so she could better understand what made her tick.

"I knew the match would be more mental than anything else, because she's really smart," Maroulis said in a FloWrestling documentary after the match. "I don't think she likes when people attack her, and I don't think she's wrestled someone in over a decade who believed they could beat her, and I'm like, I have to show her that."

Maroulis, 24 at the time, took her own advice and took the fight to the 34-year-old Yoshida, and it paid off with one of the biggest upsets of the Olympic wrestling tournament. Maroulis scored a pair of second-period takedowns in a dramatic 4-1 victory before a raucous crowd at Rio's Carioca Arena.

For Maroulis, it was redemption for having failed to make the U.S. team four years earlier. For Yoshida--and Japan as a whole--it was a heartbreaking defeat that prevented her from matching the previous day achievement of compatriot Kaori ICHO (JPN), who became the first woman in any sport in Olympic history to win four consecutive Olympic golds.

In the first period, Yoshida got in deep on a single-leg, but Maroulis prevented her from finishing it off. A short time later, Yoshida received a point with Maroulis on the activity clock, and the period ended with Yoshida leading 1-0.

Early in the second period, Yoshida tried to shrug past Maroulis. Maroulis slipped to the side and as she started going behind, Yoshida reached back for a headlock, but Maroulis pulled her head out and gained control as the two tumbled to the mat for a 2-1 lead. With just over a minute left, Maroulis crossed over for an inner thigh hold and forced out Yoshida for what was originally ruled a 1-point stepout, but was revised to a 2-point takedown.

In the final 20 seconds, Yoshida again got in on a single, but just as she did earlier, Maroulis applied a whizzer and forced a non-scoring stalemate. When the buzzer sounded, both wrestlers flopped to the mat in tears, obviously experiencing vastly different emotions.

As a bewildered Maroulis finally got to her feet, her coach Valentin Kalika ran onto the mat and warmly embraced her. Her success can be directly linked to coming under the tutelage of the Russian.  The two had worked together before he invited her to a training camp in 2014 in the Russian wrestling hotbed of Dagestan.

A suicide bombing in the volatile region had led USA Wrestling to advise her against taking the trip, and her father also strongly opposed. But the desire to become an Olympic gold won out and she went, although she did take the extreme precaution of changing out of her USA warmup jacket during a stopover at Moscow airport.

Kalika was awed by such dedication. "Man, this girl came to die [just] to win Olympics. Not many men would do that. She became my hero."

And, during the three-week camp -- which concluded without incident --- he officially became her coach. The results were tangible, as she won the world title in 2015 at 55kg, adding to her silver from 2012 and bronze in 2014. (She would add another gold in 2017.) Her biggest decision was which weight class to make her Rio challenge and, consulting a nutritionist and others, made the choice to go down to 53kg.

That put her on a collision course with Yoshida, who was on a mission of her own. Aside from the historic significance of a fourth Olympic gold, Yoshida wanted to dedicate the victory to her father, who had died suddenly at 61 five months before the Rio Games. Eikatsu YOSHIDA, a former national champion, had been a coach and confidante since she started the sport at age 3 (that's him on her shoulders during her victory lap at the London 2012 Olympics).

Her father taught her the attacking style that led to her unrivaled success, and she felt she had sullied his memory by failing to score a takedown in the Rio final. As she wept uncontrollably in her mother's arms after the match, she could be heard saying, "Father is angry with me." The tears continued on the medal podium, and in interviews on Japanese TV.

The loss to Maroulis would be Yoshida's only one in her career to a non-Japanese in an individual tournament, as her two other defeats came at World Cups. It would also be her last match, as she announced her retirement in January this year.

Stadnik retires: Europe's best who rewrote history

Wednesday, February 5, 2025 - 11:06 By Vinay Siwach

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BAKU, Azerbaijan (February 4) -- Four Olympic medals, six World Championships medals, 10 European titles, two European Games golds, many triumphs and heartbreaks later, Mariya STADNIK (AZE) has called it a day.

Stadnik, who debuted 22 years ago in 2003, announced her decision to retire from wrestling in an event organized by Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation in Baku on Monday. In an emotional video, Stadnik can be seen removing her shoes on the mat in front of a crowd and then speaking about her career.

"I recorded my name in the history of Women's Wrestling. Thank you to everyone who created this story together with me," Stadnik wrote on Instagram. "Now it's time to close this page of my life and write a new history."

Back in 2003, Stadnik began with a gold medal at the U17 European Championships, won a U20 world title two years later, added senior one as well and had a storied Olympic career which was laden with heartbreaks.

"I always had the motivation and will to win," Stadnik said last year. "I have had this will since early childhood, and this is endless."

READ MORE: Stadnik, 34, remains unbeaten in Europe

Though her will has stretched her career over two decades, Stadnik's decision to retire came after a lot of thought.

"In wrestling, I used all my chances," Stadnik said. "Now I understand that the time has come when I can be useful for wrestling in another role."

The 36-year-old, who was born in Ukraine but competed for Azerbaijan, will be moving into a caretaker role with the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation in Women's Wrestling and will be responsible for churning out new stars.

When Stadnik made her debut in 2003, Japan, China, United States and Canada were top nations. However, Stadnik changed that. She won her first World Championships medal in 2007 and qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in which she won a bronze medal as an 18-year-old.

Soon, she won her first world title in 2009 and emerged as the new force from Europe. She went on to win the European Championships as well. Stadnik brought competition to Women's Wrestling.

"For these countries, the competition with me was always serious," she said. "We always had tense and intriguing fights that were followed by the whole world. Mariya Stadnik from Azerbaijan was always a danger for them."

Mariya STADNIK (AZE)Mariya STADNIK (AZE) won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Perhaps it was no surprise that she was in the final of 2011 World Championships and 2012 London Games. However, she came up short both times to Hitomi OBARI (JPN).

"I give a lot of respect to Obara because she was stronger than me at that moment and the London gold was hers," she said. "She was my strongest opponent whom I respect very much."

Barring those Japanese hurdles, Stadnik was unstoppable. She added more medals at the continental level and always stood on the podium at the World Championships.

Mariya STADNIK (AZE)A dejected Mariya STADNIK (AZE) at the 48kg medal ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

Then came the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Stadnik was at the peak of her wrestling her. A Olympic gold would take so much off her back. She was in the final of the 48kg in Rio and the gold medal was within touching distance as she was leading Eri TOSAKA (JPN) 2-1 in the final. But Tosaka crushed those dreams in the final five seconds, beating Stadnik 3-2.

Stadnik till today has no explanation as to what happened in those last five seconds of the final against Tosaka.

"I didn't watch my match from Rio for two years and still can't find an explanation why that competition ended like that," Stadnik said. "I knew and felt that the Rio gold should have been mine."

Stadnik geared up for one more time. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics would have been perfect ending for her. But by then, wrestling had changed with two-day weight ins, a newer generation of wrestlers had come up and Yui SUSAKI (JPN) was on a mission.

Mariya STADNIK (AZE)Mariya STADNIK (AZE) lost her first meeting with Yui SUSAKI (JPN) 2-2 at the Klippan Lady Open in 2018. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Max Rose-Fynn)

The first time Stadnik and Susaki faced each other was in the Klippan Lady Open final in 2018. Stadnik was winning the final but Susaki scored a stepout in the final second to shock Stadnik.

People doubted Stadnik and her mental strength. The 2019 World Championships gave a huge boost of confidence for Stadnik who won her second of the two world titles in Astana, exactly ten years after winning her first.

The Tokyo Olympics were just 10 months away and Stadnik was ready for it. However, with COVID-19 pandemic, it got pushed to 2021 and Susaki went on to win the gold medal with a 41-0 record in four bouts including a 10-0 rout of Stadnik in the semifinals.

Stadnik still managed to win a bronze medal, her fourth of the Olympics, tying her with Kaori ICHO (JPN) and Saori YOSHIDA (JPN). Icho was four golds and Yoshida has three silver and one bronze.

"I know people talk about the gold medal but I am so happy with this bronze. It's satisfying," she said back in 2021.

But Stadnik wasn't satisfied with wrestling. After being away from the mat in 2022, she returned in 2023 and won her ninth European title, the most in Women's Wrestling, extending her unbeaten streak in European Championships to 34 bouts.

Then she made a run for the Paris Olympics and though that meant taking losses to opponents she used to toy with in the past, the mother of two secured her place for Paris in the final qualifiers in Istanbul. Her body was ageing, reducing weight was becoming gruesome and her opponents were becoming quicker.

She returned home without a medal but became the first female wrestler to compete at five Olympics. Soon after Paris, Stadnik reflected on what she has left for wrestling and decided that a role off the mat was more suited now. Letting go off something so big in her life was hard and emotional for her.

"When I watched the video in which I take my shoes off, I had tears," she said. "This is the end of an important part of my life. What I loved so much for many years is ending."