"I just had to dig deep" - Helen Maroulis reacts to iconic gold medal win at the World Wrestling Championships

Helen Maroulis stunned the wrestling world once again after clinching her fourth World Wrestling Championships title in Zagreb, Croatia. Maroulis competed in her 12th World Championships in Croatia and collected her eighth medal of the tournament.

After defeating the European champion Olga Khoroshavtseva in the semifinal round of the 57 kg, the American wrestler locked horns with Il Sim Son. Maroulis was trailing 2-1 when only a minute and 32 seconds were left in the bout. The three-time Olympic medalist drew on her experience and a comeback to a 3-2 lead in the final six seconds. With the win, she collected her fourth World Championship title.

Following her victory, Maroulis reflected on her final bout and highlighted that she cruised through the grueling duel by remembering her coach's advice to never give up.

"I love collecting like new experiences in wrestling, so that's really cool," Maroulis said. "I had to really really dig deep for that and like right before, I don't know before the last exchange started I remember coach...he'd be putting us through these grueling workouts and he would say 'No deals, no deals, no deals, like don't make a deal, don't don't give up, don't give up too soon don't stop pushing.'" "So I just had to dig deep and find it, and I didn't even know what it was, just some scramble flurry, and just thank God that it came out my way. I'm grateful," she added.

After winning a bronze medal at the Paris Games, Maroulis took a break from wrestling before making her return in May.

Helen Maroulis reveals the reason for making a comeback to wrestling

Helen Maroulis during the US Olympic Wrestling. (Photo by Getty Images)

Helen Maroulis stayed away from the wrestling mat after winning her third Olympic medal in France. In an interview with Olympics.com, she stated that when she was contemplating concluding her career, her mother and best friend reminded her of losing to a Japanese player for a brief period, which made them think, Maroulis isn't done with wrestling yet.

“I for sure thought that I was going to be done after Paris, but the next day, my mum and my best friend commented that I had only lost to this one Japanese woman for the last three years of the quad, and that they wouldn’t be surprised if I wasn’t done with the sport." “I was doing jiu-jitsu for a couple of months, and then one day I heard God tell me to go back to Phoenix and go back to wrestling, and then in 24 hours I just came back," Helen Maroulis added.

During the break, Helen Maroulis achieved success in her new pursuit, winning a gold medal in the jiu-jitsu lightweight blue belt category at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship in December.

Edited by Janhavi Shinde