Ilona Maher, an Olympic bronze medallist and already the most followed female rugby player on Instagram, is not the first to make a name for herself in a predominantly male-dominated field.
It’s something he would like to see in Washington as well.
“I think it’s going to be great because there’s an opportunity to have female representation and change this country in a way that I think will benefit us all,” the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model told SI after her revealing beach photo shoot.
Asked if that means he supports Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the November election, Maher replied succinctly: “That’s an endorsement of Kamala Harris.”
No, Maher is not supporting the Harris-Walz ticket strictly because it is headed by a woman.
Ilona Maher recently posed for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover (pictured)
The 27-year-old Vermont native was among the rising stars of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Vermont native, however, is an outspoken advocate for abortion access and reproductive rights, an issue Trump has struggled to overcome during this election cycle.
“I have enough money that I don’t have to have an abortion, and if I wanted to, I could raise a baby,” Maher said. “I have that privilege, but I’m scared of other girls. I have options, and I want to remember that, not all my fans have that. So it’s the same for me, but it’s the same for them, too.”
Maher spoke on a number of other SI-related topics.
Like female athletes around the world, she is critical of the gender pay gap in sports.
“Men can play rugby and get paid millions of dollars, while we earn minimum wage, and that’s not going to be a career for us,” she said. “I have teammates who are now entering the workforce, while these guys are there and rugby is their thing.”
Maher, who rose to prominence three years ago thanks to his wicked sense of humor documenting life behind the scenes at the Tokyo Olympics, helped the United States win the bronze medal at the Paris Games with a dramatic finish in a 14-12 victory over Australia. The bronze medal match ended with Alex “Spiff” Sedrick scoring a try from the length of the field as time expired and then kicking a shot through the uprights.
Maher defends Emma Uren #7 of the Great Britain Women’s National Team during the Paris games
Maher’s tearful post-match interview was enough to make any American want to run through a wall for the 27-year-old Vermont native who has a nursing degree and a master’s degree in business but really just wants to play rugby and promote the sport to girls around the world.
She also wants to spread body positivity, something she has learned to embrace.
“I’ve always been called masculine or something,” she told SI. “But I never felt that way. But I don’t think you’re going to intimidate a girl who could probably hit you in a fit of rage. I love that[rugby]has shown me what I can do. It showed me how capable my body is and that it’s not just a tool to be looked at and objectified.”
Maher, who uses the hashtag #beastbeautybrains on social media, became the most followed rugby player on Instagram during these Games with 2 million followers. She has 1.9 million followers on TikTok.
She has continued to document life at the Olympics, calling the Athletes’ Village “The Village” in a nod to Love Island (she watches the British version and thinks she could be on the show, but “it wouldn’t be a bomb”). But her biggest impact has been her body-positive messages, and this week a post from two months ago resurfaced in which she responded to a commenter who mocked her for having a body mass index (BMI) of 30.
“I think you were trying to make fun of me, but this is a fact. I have a BMI of 30, well, 29.3 to be exact,” Maher said on TikTok. “My whole life I’ve been considered overweight.”
Maher carries the ball during the bronze final rugby 7s match between the United States and Australia
She revealed that she weighs 200 pounds (90 kilograms) and is 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 centimeters) tall — the two measurements used to calculate BMI. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered within the overweight range, and a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.
Maher said she felt humiliated by the label, particularly when she turned in documentation from a high school physical indicating she was overweight.
“I was so embarrassed to hand it over and have it written on there,” Maher said on TikTok. “I’ve been like this my whole life.”
She said she was surprised that “body-positive posts posted months ago, a couple of years ago, weeks ago” had resurfaced, but that it’s an important message to get across.
“It’s like every time I preach, and it’s so important for me to preach constantly because the message never stops and young girls have to say, ‘Oh, gosh, okay, I feel great about 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 this need to be thin and fit. But no, there are athletes of all shapes and sizes competing in the Olympics.”
Olympic rugby player for Team USA Ilona Maher during an interview with host Seth Meyers on August 12
Sally Horrox, World Rugby’s director of women’s rugby, said Maher was an “unprecedented” athlete who would help the game grow.
“She’s not following anyone. She’s leading the way,” Horrox told The Associated Press. “That profile in the United States and her growing global profile will do wonders for rugby and for women’s sport. She speaks so strongly about what rugby has done for her in terms of self-confidence, body image, opportunities and she wants that for young girls, in particular, and if it turns out to be rugby, great.”
“But she will speak about that purpose and the value of sport, health and lifestyle, and she will do it off the rugby field. I am really impressed and she should be very proud of what she is doing.”
All of her teammates share the same passion for Maher’s message. Sammy Sullivan, who started playing rugby at West Point, where she graduated in 2020 and is an active-duty Army captain, said the biggest stereotype female rugby players have to combat is that they can’t be girly girls.
“People think we lack femininity, and I think it’s the opposite,” Sullivan said. “I think strength, power and aggression can be feminine and can be beautiful if you want it to be. Our team is the epitome of that. We all show our femininity in different ways and that’s a beautiful thing about women in U.S. rugby.”