10 Rio Olympians Who Might End Up on the Upcoming Season of Dancing With the Stars
By Isobel Moody
Aug 18, 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Helen Louise Maroulis (USA) celebrates after winning a gold medal. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Helen Maroulis, Wrestling
A week and a half after Thrasher, we got another young, blonde, and pretty Olympic champion who became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in wrestling. Helen Maroulis too beat the odds, and crazily so, defeating an opponent who had lost only two times before in her entire senior career! Her NBC interview that evening revealed a good strong character to go with the pretty face too. (It also revealed her religiousness, but that’s hardly unusual on Dancing with the Stars.)
Wrestling is another sport that doesn’t get the most attention in the states, especially not when women do it. But it’s not one without history on Dancing with the Stars. They’ve had a professional wrestler on the show, which is of course a drastically different matter, but combine that with the two Ultimate Fighters, and it’s clear the show does not mind taking the fighting tough guy or girl and giving them a chance to be pretty and show their softer side. Just last season their first tough girl was a huge success, finishing second and arguably the best dancer technically.
Maroulis won her gold on Thursday. If the producers were indeed on the search for a new Olympian by then in Lochte’s stead, they could’ve looked at the headlines that day, seen the interview, and thought she would work.
Next: Kerry Walsh-Jennings, Beach Volleyball