Ilona Maher is the Team USA rugby sevens star everyone is talking about at the Paris 2024 Olympics

With the U.S. rugby sevens team winning bronze in a memorable fashion on Tuesday, 30 July, everyone is talking about Ilona Maher. She is using her platform to not just help the sport she loves, but also show that athletes don’t have to fit in a box of what’s expected of them.

Even before the Olympics, Maher was well-known on TikTok and Instagram for her frank and funny videos. Some touched on the bigger body she has, which is an asset as she aims to break tackles in rugby sevens. Some are just funny moments with her teammates.

But her popularity blew up on Sunday when in two different wins in pool play, Maher broke loose, stiff-armed opponents and ran for a try. Her moves brought to mind American football stars Marshawn Lynch and Derrick Henry.

‘King Henry’ bestows praise on Maher

Henry watched her run and said: “She’s got it! The mindset, running hard, not trying to go down, get into the end zone by any means. I love it. Makes me want to get out there, too.”

Another American football star, Jason Kelce – yes, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s brother – wore a shirt to the gymnastics team championship with Maher’s face all over it.

Maher told Olympics.com earlier this year that being authentic on social media is just her being who she is.

“People are always like, ‘You’re so unapologetically yourself’," she said. “And I’m like, ‘What is everybody else doing out here?’ I don’t even try to be that. It’s just how I am. There’s probably quotes about, ‘It’s so much easier to just be yourself than to be anybody else’, and so I never even thought about that. That’s just how I am.”

That authenticity also inspires her to wear red lipstick to every game. She told CBS that she wears the lipstick to “stick it to the man”. She won’t have her femininity defined by anyone else.

“It doesn’t take away from your athletic ability if you wear makeup. If you want to put on a full face of makeup to go tackle people, good on you if you’re doing it,” she said. “I feel that I can be a beast and can play this very physical aggressive sport but also keeping my femininity while I do it.”

Maher said after winning the bronze medal that she hopes this moment will help rugby sevens grow in the United States.

“I hope it means we get more games in stadiums like this, that we get more money and funding for the women’s game. We deserve it. We need more girls in the U.S. trying rugby and seeing what it can do for them,” she said.