Meet rugby player and TikTok star Ilona Maher: she’s competing in the Paris Olympics for the US women’s team and spreading body positivity on social media – she has a nursing degree, too
- During the Tokyo Olympics, Maher and her rugby sevens teammates tested out the cardboard beds and even performed CPR on them – the video went viral
- The 27-year-old also posts about people she runs across at the Olympics – like US tennis star Coco Gauff and Snoop Dogg, who she calls ‘an insanely cool dude’
She’s been busy making funny TikTok and Instagram Reels as well as empowering posts about women and sports. She’s also producing some big hits on opponents at Stade de France as a regular starter for the US women’s rugby sevens team.
The 27-year-old Maher isn’t new to this. Her hilarious takes on village life in the pandemic-era Tokyo Olympics three years ago made her one of the breakout stars of those games.
Here’s what you need to know about Ilona Maher.
How did Ilona Maher become TikTok famous?
Spectators were barred from Olympic venues in Tokyo, and there’s always strict rules regardless about who is allowed into the athletes’ village. Those weren’t barriers for Maher. With fans locked out under harsh social-distancing rules, her social media followers got a humorous inside look at the Games – starting with the bedding.
Maher and her rugby sevens teammates tested out the cardboard beds in a TikTok video that gained millions of views, showing them performing CPR on the bed, doing yoga and even throwing a mock tantrum.