Helen Maroulis Wins Gold in First BJJ Event
Helen Maroulis won gold in her first Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition, taking the lightweight blue belt division at the 2024 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship in December.
Maroulis entered the tournament after about six weeks of training and won five matches. She submitted an opponent with a mounted guillotine in her second match, then defeated Seika Van Keuren in the final.
The result added a new discipline to a wrestling career that already included three Olympic medals: gold at Rio 2016 and bronze medals at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
What the IBJJF result records
The official IBJJF results list Helen Louise Maroulis of Unity Jiu-jitsu first in the female adult blue belt light division, with a 136-pound limit. Seika Rebecca Van Keuren of TDBJJ finished second. Samantha Carolina Ojeda and Taylor Elaine Wingstrom shared third place.
That classification defines the achievement precisely. Maroulis won her weight and belt category at No-Gi Worlds; the result was separate from the tournament’s black belt divisions. The event gave her an opportunity to apply her extensive grappling experience within a new competitive discipline.
A different test of grappling skills
The mounted guillotine in her second match was a notable part of that transition. Wrestling experience can support takedowns and positional control, while a submission win requires completing an attack under jiu-jitsu rules. Her debut included both the challenge of a tournament bracket and a demonstrated submission finish.
Winning five matches turned the appearance into a complete gold-medal run. For an athlete already associated with Olympic wrestling success, the December result marked a documented first step in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition.
Sources: MMA Fighting: Maroulis wins gold in her BJJ debut; FloGrappling: IBJJF No-Gi Worlds final; Team USA: Maroulis’s Olympic career.
