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5 things to know about Ilona Maher, USA women's rugby sevens star

She's dominated TikTok in addition to the rugby pitch

ian casselberry
Contributing writer
·4 min read

Medal table | Olympic schedule | Olympic news

The United States women's rugby sevens team won its first Olympic medal ever at the Paris Games, upsetting Australia 14-12 as time ran out.

Alex Sedrick took hold of the ball and scored after a 85-meter run as time expired. Her ensuing kick gave Team USA the victory.

Ilona Maher, who scored in each of USA's first two wins, emerged as one of the team's stars. 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'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."

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.

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.

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.

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.