GoodHeart | Rugby player Ilona Maher promotes body positivity through social media

PARIS (AP):

Ilona Maher, America’s rugby-playing social media sweetheart, walked on to the terrace of Team USA House carrying a sandwich, the United States’ first-ever rugby sevens Olympic medal hanging around her neck. In between a rapid-fire media rotation, she squeezed in bites of her snack and reapplied her trademark red lipstick. It was authentic Maher, who uses the platform she has built to promote body positivity and the sport she loves, all while insisting women who run, tackle and throw stiff arms can still be feminine.

Maher, who gained fame three years ago for her humorous behind-the-scenes Tokyo Olympics content, helped lead the US to a 14-12 bronze medal victory over Australia at the Paris Games. The match ended with Alex ‘Spiff ‘ Sedrick scoring a length-of-the-field try as time expired and successfully kicking the conversion.

Maher’s tear-filled interview after the match was enough to inspire anyone. The 27-year-old Vermont native has a nursing degree and a master’s in business, but just wants to play rugby and promote the sport to girls worldwide.

“I think the stereotype around a rugby player is this idea that you need to drop your femininity and play a very masculine, brutal sport,” Maher said. “Myself and my team and some others on the circuit like Australia and Ireland, are showing that femininity. We are doing our makeup before games, wearing makeup, wanting to feel pretty out there. But that doesn’t take away from how amazing we tackle and hit and run. You can be those things, and the stereotypes around women’s sports just should be thrown out the window now.”

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 and called the Athlete’s Village, “The Villa” in a nod to “Love Island”. She watches the British version, and thinks she could be on the show, but “wouldn’t be a bombshell”. But her biggest impact has been her messages of body positivity and a two-month-old post resurfaced this week in which she clapped-back at a commentor who mocked her for having a body mass index (BMI) of 30.

“I think you were trying to roast me, but this actually is a fact. I do have a BMI of 30 – well, 29.3 to be more exact,” Maher said on TikTok. “I’ve been considered overweight my whole life.”

She revealed she weighs 200 pounds (90 kilograms) and is 5-foot-10 (178 centimetres): the two measurements used to calculate 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, particularly when she turned in paperwork from a high school physical that labelled her overweight.

“I was so embarrassed to turn that in and have that written there,” Maher said in the TikTok. “My whole life, I’ve been this way.”

She said she was surprised that “body-positive posts posted months, a couple of years ago, weeks ago” have resurfaced, but that it’s an important message for her to deliver.

“It’s just like I always preach, and it is really important for me to constantly preach because the message never stops and young girls have to be like, ‘Oh, man, OK, I feel great about my body,’ “ she said. “I love it. It has to be a constant stream. I think there’s this idea about what female athletes needs to be lean and fit. But, no, there’s athletes of all shapes and sizes competing at the Olympics.”