Ilona Maher showed her best performances on the rugby field and won bronze. But the athlete achieved superstar status primarily through her social media presence.
“Beast, Beauty, Brains” is what Ilona Maher has written on her Instagram profile. Maher has actually become the coolest “beast” at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. Why? Because she performed well on the field – the US rugby players won bronze – but also off the field. The rugby player had already discovered social media for herself before the Olympic Games. But in the last few weeks her number of followers has skyrocketed.
Olympia 2024: Ilona Maher is the new superstar
According to the statistics site Socialblade, she gained over a million new subscribers on Instagram in the past 30 days, and almost a million on TikTok. Her secret? She shows more than just her sporty side. The 27-year-old with broad shoulders and mostly red lips educates and encourages (young) women to eat more and not to be influenced by diet culture. She clearly shows that a high BMI says little, and emphasizes that she can also be feminine despite her broad stature. On the rugby field, Maher almost demonstratively wears red lipstick most of the time.
“It doesn’t take away from your athletic ability if you wear makeup,” she told “CBS Morning.” She wants to keep her femininity and still be a “beast on the field,” said Maher. Her teammates and opponents do the same, she explained. “I see them putting on all their makeup before they go to rugby, and they’re the toughest women in the world. It’s just about not changing who I am, no matter what I do,” said the American.
Maher repeatedly emphasizes in her social media posts that she wants to be an inspiration for girls who also do not conform to beauty standards. Important messages, especially because the person delivering them is neither didactic nor arrogant, but simply cool. What also contributes to Maher’s coolness factor is her humor and her ability to not take herself too seriously. In a video shortly before the start of the Olympics, she talked about her excitement about the “Olympic Villa” that she would soon move into and where she would find love. When reminded that it was called the “Olympic Village” and that she was not taking part in “Love Island,” Maher waved it off. The video went viral, being viewed almost five million times on Instagram and almost eight million times on TikTok.
Maher also made reference in a funny video to the much-discussed cardboard beds that the Olympians sleep in in Paris and which were supposed to stop them from having sex. “Do you really think that athletes, Olympic athletes, the top one percent in the world, are going to be put off by cardboard? We’re the best at what we do, but we see a cardboard bed and say, ‘Sorry babe, I can’t be freaky tonight?'” she joked.
In fact, the rugby player is not the only social media star in her family. Her sister Olivia Maher started the TikTok trend “Girl Dinner,” in which users filmed their dinner. “Someone said how terrible it was that in the Middle Ages people only had bread and cheese to eat – for me that’s the perfect dinner, I call it ‘Girl Dinner’!” said the Olympic superstar’s sister a good year ago.
Maher clearly shows what it means to be more than “just” a top athlete these days. Social media offers athletes the space to draw attention to themselves, to show their personality, to educate without lecturing, and to cultivate relationships with fans. No one succeeds in doing this as sensationally well during the Olympic Games as Ilona Maher.
Sources: / / TikTok / Instagram
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Source: Stern

I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.