From the Olympics to the Girls’s Rugby World Cup and past, here’s what we learn about Ilona Maher’s doable change of sport.

Ilona Maher is greatest recognized by many from her social media, however she is an Olympic Bronze Rugby Union participant from the USA and has lately contemplated a suggestion from WWE to turn out to be an expert wrestler.

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Who’s Ilona Maher?

Ilona Maher is an American rugby union participant.

She was born on August 12, 1996, in Burlington, Vermont.

Her mom, a Dutch native, works as a nurse, and he or she has two sisters, Olivia and Adrianna.

Ilona participated in Little League softball and different actions.

She attended Burlington Excessive College and went on to Quinnipiac College, the place she graduated with a level in nursing in 2018.

Ilona earned a grasp’s diploma in enterprise administration from DeVry College in 2022.

She started her rugby profession with the South Burlington College Rugby Soccer Membership at age 17.

Earlier than rugby, she had performed discipline hockey, basketball, and soccer at Burlington Excessive College.

Her dad, Michael Maher, can also be former rugby participant.

He beforehand performed for Saint Michael’s School., a former rugby participant for Saint Michael’s School, inspired her to attempt the game.

Following in his footsteps, Ilona performed middle at Quinnipiac College, and helped the staff win three Nationwide Intercollegiate Rugby Affiliation (NIRA) championships.

Right here, she was named to the NIRA All-American staff annually and received the MA Sorensen Award in 2017.

She made her debut for the US girls’s nationwide rugby union staff in opposition to Japan in 2018 and represented the U.S. on the 2020 Summer season Olympics in Tokyo.

That very same yr, she gave a TEDxTalk, and in 2024 Ilona was introduced as a model ambassador for Secret deodorant.

Ilona and her staff received a bronze medal on the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Rugby star most lately performed for Bristol Bears within the Premiership Girls’s Rugby league in England in the course of the 2024/25 season to make sure choice for the World Cup that summer season.

The TikToker joined the Bears on a three-month contract in January 2025, marking her 15s return since 2021. She had beforehand targeted on sevens for 3 years to safe a spot on the Olympic staff.

She additionally co-founded a skincare model referred to as Medalist.

What number of medals did Ilona Maher win on the Paris 2024 Olympics?

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Ilona Maher received one medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

She and the U.S. Girls’s Rugby Sevens staff earned a bronze medal.

What number of followers does Ilona Maher have on social media?

The influencer has a big social media following with 5.2 million followers on Instagram and three.6 million on TikTok as of August 2025.

She has utilized her viral presence to advocate for physique positivity and to extend consciousness of girls’s sports activities.

She lately went viral for calling out a hater, who commented on her BMI.

Ilona mentioned in a TikTok: “It looks like you had been making an attempt to roast me, however let me set the report straight.

“I do have a BMI of 30, to be exact, it is 29.3.

“I have been thought-about obese my complete life.

“I chatted with my dietitian, as a result of I am going off of information and never simply what pops up right here… such as you do.

“We talked about BMI. And we talked about the way it actually is not useful for athletes.

“BMI does not let you know a lot. It simply tells you your peak and weight and what that equals.

“Do this math in your head — you most likely cannot.

“And that BMI does not actually let you know what I can do.

“It does not let you know what I can do on the sphere, how match I’m.

“It is only a couple numbers put collectively.

“It does not let you know how a lot muscle I’ve or something like that.

“So, yeah. I do have a BMI of 30. I’m thought-about obese.

“However alas, I will the Olympics and you are not,”

Has Illona Maher held talks with WWE?

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The 29-year-old has mentioned that she has been approached by the WWE earlier than, and her ring identify could be “Maher-vellous”.

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Ex-Bristol Bears participant mentioned: “I do not know if I might [go into wrestling]. I ought to give it some thought, there may be nice cash in it.”

Ilona mentioned if she had been to get into wrestling, it could be to progress into Hollywood.

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“I might like to get into the appearing house and the scripted house. I feel a Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson, John Cena development – I might love to try this,” she added.

“It might be thrilling to see my physique sort on the display. I am going to begin off small – most likely like a sizzling murderer or one thing, let’s not get too loopy!

“I am not going to be in a rom-com simply but.

“We’ll see. The world is open, however I do see myself coming again to rugby.”

When is the Girls’s Rugby World Cup?

The Girls’s Rugby World Cup runs from August twenty second to September twenty seventh.

Ilona Maher’s first sport on the event for the USA will likely be in opposition to the hosts England.