Topline
American rugby player and two-time Olympian Ilona Maher—who won a bronze medal on Tuesday—has become one of TikTok’s most popular Olympians through her series of well-timed comedy bits, poignant commentary on sexism in sports and vocal support of “all the different body types” as she exposes the treatment she’s received for her own athletic build.
Ilona Maher looks on during the Women’s Pool C match between Team United States and Team Brazil on … [+]
Key Facts
Maher, 27, became a TikTok star three years ago by vlogging at the Tokyo Olympics in an effort to publicize the sport of women’s rugby sevens, and found hoards of fans falling in love with her self-confidence, honesty and comedy.
Today, she’s amassed more than 1.6 million TikTok followers—plus another 1.4 million on Instagram—and has posted dozens of videos since landing in Paris for the summer games that have each been watched between 600,000 and 14 million times.
So far, her most popular videos have seen her compare the Olympic Village to the “villa” of popular dating show “Love Island,” meet commentator Snoop Dog and ask fan-favorite former NFL player Jason Kelce to declare his allegiance to the sport of women’s rugby as rapper Flavor Flav has done for the US women’s water polo team.
In addition to spreading the word about women’s rugby, Maher has used her platform to advocate for body positivity, sharing her own stories of being shamed for her “masculine” and muscled physique and, in a clip posted during Friday’s opening ceremony, encouraging fans to “take a look at all the different body types on display.”
Since her TikTok fandom began, Maher has scored brand deals with Secret and L’Oréal, been featured on popular podcasts of other TikTokers, like ” The Comment Section” and “ Real Pod,” and has launched a skincare line called Medalist with former college swimmer Ann Ragan Kearns.
This weekend, she told The Guardian she’s used TikTok to build her personal brand and hopes it will help her “make sports a career,” something she acknowledged many female athletes aren’t able to do.
Ilona Maher attends Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute To Women In Sports at Cipriani Wall … [+]
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News Peg
Maher won her first medal on Tuesday. Team USA upset Australia 14-12 to take home the bronze medal after losing to New Zealand 24-12 in the semifinals earlier in the day. The U.S. had not previously won a medal in women’s rugby sevens.
Crucial Quote
“All body types matter. All body types are worthy,” she said in the video. “From the smallest gymnast to the tallest volleyball player, from a rugby player to a shot-putter, a sprinter. All body types are beautiful, can do amazing things. Truly see yourself in these athletes and know that you can do it too.”
Key Background
Maher is a Vermont native who didn’t start playing rugby until she was 17 years old. She played college rugby at Quinnipiac University and helped her team win three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association championships. She played her first game for the USA Rugby World Cup Sevens team in 2018 and competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where the team finished sixth. Maher is a prop center, usually among the largest players on a rugby team, and told Forbes last year, “I just run through people and try to set up for something.” Maher has scored in all three of the rugby team’s games so far at the Paris Olympics.
What To Watch For
The next U.S. women’s rugby game. The team has played three games so far against Brazil, Japan and France. The U.S. beat Brazil (24-5) and Japan (36-7) but fell 31 to 14 against France. The Americans still moved on to the quarterfinals, where they will play Great Britain at 3:30 p.m. EST Monday.
Ilona Maher during the women’s pool C rugby sevens match between France and United States on July … [+]
Tangent
Maher isn’t the only Olympian to have blown up on TikTok. U.S. artistic swimmer Daniella Ramirez, known for her in-depth videos about the extensive hair routines needed for her sport, has amassed more than half a million followers and distance runner Nikki Hiltz (114,000 followers) has become famous for sharing her experience as a transgender, non-binary athlete. Suni Lee (1.8 million followers) famously vlogged her Tokyo Olympics experience, where she won the gold medal for all-around gymnastics, and is doing the same this year.
Further Reading
Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes reporter who covers breaking news with a frequent focus on the entertainment industry, streaming, sports news, publishing, pop culture and climate change. She joined Forbes in 2023 and lives in Dallas. She’s covered Netflix’s hottest documentaries, a surge of assaults reported on social media, the most popular books of the year and how climate change stands to impact the way we eat. Roeloffs was included on Editor & Publisher Magazine’s “ 25 Under 30” list in 2023 and worked covering local news in the greater Boston area from 2017 to 2023. She graduated with a double major in political science and journalism from Northeastern University. Follow Roeloffs for continued coverage of streaming wars, pop culture news and trending topics.
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