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The United States women’s rugby sevens team is pursuing its first Olympic medal at the Paris Games. The first step toward that goal has been cleared after the Americans won their first two matches in group play with a 36–7 win over Japan and 24–5 victory against Brazil.
Among the veteran names to watch on Team USA are Lauren Doyle and Alev Kelter, both of whom competed in the previous three Olympic rugby sevens tournaments. Naya Tapper was also on the squad that played in the Tokyo Games.
However, the emerging star of the team is Ilona Maher, who scored in each of USA’s wins. She’s also a star off the rugby pitch, thanks to her videos on TikTok recording funny moments with teammates and from training, while showing off a creative, witty personality. Here are five things to know about the rugby star:
Maher is a TikTok superstar
Maher’s TikTok began gaining popularity during the Tokyo Games, posting behind-the-scenes videos and short skits that she admitted spending six hours a day working on. Testing out the Olympic Village’s cardboard beds went viral and a “Love Island” themed video for Paris has drawn attention. She now has 1.5 million followers on the app, more than acclaimed Olympians like Katie Ledecky (701,000) or Noah Lyles (950,000).
“It’s really important for me because we are trying to grow the game of rugby in the U.S. and in the world, but especially in America,” Maher told Teen Vogue. “People don’t know about us, but when they see a TikTok of me they think, ‘Hey what is this? I want to learn a little more.’ And then they tune in or they try to play it themselves.”
She played field hockey, basketball, softball before rugby
As a high schooler in Burlington, Vermont, Maher played field hockey, basketball and softball before her father encouraged her to try rugby. (He played the sport at Saint Michael’s College.) She played rugby during her one year at Norwich University before Quinnipiac University recruited her after the two schools matched up.
Maher was a three-time All-American for Quinnipiac and won the MA Sorenson Award in 2017, which goes to the nation’s top college women’s rugby player.
Her stiff-arm rivals Derrick Henry’s
NFL running back Derrick Henry, now with the Baltimore Ravens, routinely awes fans with the vicious stiff arms he uses to keep tacklers away from him. Among the defensive backs he’s turned into chalk outlines are Josh Norman and Earl Thomas.
A 5-foot-10, 200-pound powerhouse, Maher might rival Henry for how forcefully she pushes off defenders attempting to tackle her. As she showed Sunday, if she keeps a defender away and turns the corner, she will run for the score.
She worked on her speed during the COVID-19 pandemic
Maher showed tremendous speed on her two scoring tries, outrunning nearby defenders once she broke into the open field. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she concentrated on building explosive speed with trainer Joey Besl.
Quinnipiac coach Becky Carlson noticed the difference while running sprints with Maher after she’d trained with Besl.
“She was miles ahead of me and I think I threw up over my shoulder when I was working out with her,” Carlson told the Burlington Free Press in 2021.
Maher has two college degrees
She graduated from Quinnipiac with a degree in nursing, then earned a master’s in business administration and management from DeVry University. Maher is apparently applying those business skills with establishing her brand, in addition to launching a skincare line with former college swimmer Ann Ragan Kearns called Medalist.
“I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to do with social media, in terms of building my own career up, she said to Teen Vogue. “Social media is almost making it so I can think of rugby and sports as a career for myself, which is really cool.”
Maher and the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team play host country France for a spot in the Olympic tournament quarterfinals on Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
