PARIS– Ilona Maher, the social media darling of the United States rugby player, walked onto the Team USA House terrace carrying a sandwich, the United States’ first rugby sevens Olympic medal hanging around her neck.
In between a quick media rotation, she squeezed her snack and reapplied her trademark red lipstick. It was the authentic Maher, who uses the platform she’s built to promote body positivity and the sport she loves, even as she insists that women who run, face and throw stiff arms it can still be feminine.
Maher, who rose to stardom three years ago by using his wicked sense of humor to document life behind the scenes at the Tokyo Olympics, helped lead the U.S. to a bronze medal at the Paris Games with a heart-stopping finish in 14-12 victory over Australia. The bronze medal match ended with Alex “Spiff” Sedrick scoring on a long-range attempt as time expired and then firing a shot into the uprights.
Maher’s interview full of tears after the match was enough to make any American want to walk through a wall for the 27-year-old Vermont native, who has a degree in nursing and a master’s degree in business but really just wants to play rugby and promote the sport to girls across the country. world.
“I think the stereotype around a rugby player is the idea that you need to abandon your femininity and play a very masculine and brutal sport,” Maher said on Wednesday, the day after the medal match. “Me, my team and some other people on the tour, like Australia and Ireland, are showing this femininity. We’re putting on makeup before games, wearing makeup, wanting to feel pretty out there.
“But that doesn’t take away from how incredible we tackled, hit and ran. You can be those things, and the stereotypes surrounding women’s sports should be thrown out the window now.”
Maher, who uses the hashtag #beastbeautybrains on social media, has become the most followed rugby player on Instagram during these Games with 2 million followers. She has 1.9 million followers on TikTok.
She continued to document life at the Olympics and called the Athletes’ Village “The Villa” in a nod to “Love Island” (she watches the British version and thinks she could be on the show but “would be eliminated”). But her biggest impact has been her body positivity messages and a post from 2 months ago resurfaced this week in which she clapped for a commenter who mocked her for having a body mass index (BMI) of 30.
“I think you were trying to roast me, but that’s actually a fact. I have a BMI of 30 — well, 29.3 to be exact,” Maher said on TikTok. “I have been considered overweight my entire life.”
She revealed that she weighs 90 kilos and measures 178 centimeters: the two measurements used to calculate her BMI. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered in the overweight range, and a BMI of 30 and above is considered obese.
Maher said she was humiliated by the label, especially when she turned in paperwork from a high school medical exam that classified her as overweight.
“I was really embarrassed to hand this in and write it there,” Maher said on TikTok. “All my life, I’ve been like this.”
She said she was surprised that “body-positive posts posted months ago, a few years ago, weeks ago” have resurfaced, but that it’s an important message for her to get across.
“It’s how I always preach, and it’s really important for me to constantly preach because the message never stops and girls have to say, ‘Oh, man, okay, I feel great in my body,'” she said. “I love it.” It has to be a constant flow. I think there’s this idea about what female athletes are and the need to be thin and fit. But no, there are athletes of all shapes and sizes competing in the Olympics.
Sally Horrox, director of women’s rugby at World Rugby, said Maher is an “unprecedented” athlete who will help rugby grow.
“She’s not following anyone. She’s leading the way,” Horrox told the Associated Press. “This profile in the United States and its growing global profile will do wonders for rugby and women’s sport. She talks so powerfully about what rugby has done for her in terms of body confidence, body image, opportunity and she wants that for girls, in particular, and if it’s rugby, great.
“But she will talk about that purpose and the value of sport, health and lifestyle, and she will do so outside of the rugby arena. I’m really impressed and she should be really proud of what she’s doing.”
All of his teammates share the same passion for Maher’s messages. Sammy Sullivan, who studied rugby at West Point where she graduated in 2020 and is an active Army captain, said the biggest stereotype women rugby players face is that they can’t be girly girls.
“People see us as lacking femininity and I think it’s exactly the opposite,” Sullivan said. “I think strength, power and aggression can be feminine and beautiful if you want. Our team is the epitome of this. We all show our femininity in different ways and that is a beautiful thing behind the women of USA rugby.”
It worked for Maher, who said Wednesday she hopes to play in Los Angeles in 2028. She now has a bronze medal and will go for gold — and will continue to shut down criticism of her body, as her video message ended.
“I’m going to the Olympics,” she said. “And you’re not.”
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AP Sports Writer John Pye contributed to this report.
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