Ilona Maher has been one of the stars of the US Olympics Rugby Sevens team on the side’s way to the semi-finals of the tournament. She’s also been one of the breakout stars of Paris 2024, with her mastery of social media helping her to overtake Siya Kolisi and Sonny Bill Williams to become the world’s most followed player on Instagram and TikTok.

Here’s everything you need to know about the USA sevens and XVs star.

10 things you should know about Ilona Maher

1. Ilona Maher was born on 12 August 1996 in Burlington, Vermont. While her father played rugby for nearby Saint Michael’s College, Ilona played hockey, basketball and softball in her school days, only taking up the oval ball game at 17.

2. Maher won three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association titles playing for Quinnipiac University, where she studied nursing. In 2017 she won the MA Sorenson Award, presented to the best women’s college rugby player.

3. Maher made her USA debut at the France Sevens in the 2017/18 season, where the Eagles finished fifth. In the following year’s World Sevens Series, she scored 14 tries, helping her side to an all-time-best second place in the tournament.

4. Maher was part of the US Olympics Rugby Sevens team at Tokyo 2020, scoring three tries en route to the team’s sixth-place finish.

5. She also became a TikTok sensation at an Olympics Games disrupted by Covid-19. With contact with other athletes and fans severely restricted in Tokyo, her short sketches and behind-the-scenes videos from the Olympic village turned her into a sporting superstar for the social media age.

6. Maher made her USA XVs debut off the bench against Canada in November 2021, before making her first start on the wing later that month.

7. Maher has once again been a star in for the women’s Olympics Rugby Sevens team at Paris 2024, scoring another three tries on the way to the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual champions New Zealand.

8. Although the USA ended up with bronze medals in Paris, Maher has topped at least one podium this summer, becoming the most followed rugby player in the world on social media. Over the course of Olympics she’s reached 1.7 million followers on Instagram, surpassing Siya Kolisi (1.3 million), Sonny Bill Williams (1.3 million) and Antoine Dupont (1.0 million). She also has 1.7 million followers on TikTok. Nobody can say that success isn’t hard-earned, however: she says she spends up to six hours a day on TikTok!

9. Many of her posts promote positive body image. So, alongside her encounters with celebrities such Snoop Dogg, tennis star Coco Gauff and American football player Jason (brother of Travis) Kelce, Maher tries to use her platform for good.

“All body types matter,” she said at the start of the Olympics. “All body types are worthy, from the smallest gymnast to the tallest volleyball player, from a rugby player to a shot-putter and a sprinter. All body types are beautiful and can do amazing things. So truly see yourself in these athletes and know that you can do it too.”

10. Maher has promotional deals with Secret deodorant, L’Oreal cosmetics and New Era headwear. She has also joined forces with former swimmer Ann Ragan Kearns for a skincare line called Medalist, and delivered a Tedx talk in 2022.

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