UHW: Ilona Maher
Allow me to be an Unabashed Hype Woman for this Olympian.
If you’re only watching the Olympics on broadcast, you are missing the Olympic show on social media. It’s fierce and fun, those Gen Z athletes are our first real digital natives and they are comfortable citizens of both the physical world and the online world.
Personally, I am keenly following everything about the US women’s national soccer team, as I have always been. And as a hometown girl, Sunisa Lee and her pal the GOAT Simone Biles have a lock on my algorithm, too. I’m also here for the wholesome content that is Pommel Horse Guy. But I have been surprised by how my feed can not escape the presence of US Rugby team member Ilona Maher, and I couldn’t be happier. Please deep scroll her posts.
The 27-year old has lit up the channels, from IG to TikTok and back again with hot takes, body positivity, unrivaled joy, zero fucks, and a sense of humor that just makes her your best friend in five minutes. #girlcrush
We’re obsessed.
To say she is body-positive is an understatement. She is body-euphoric! The woman celebrated her cellulite for gosh sakes! When you’re 5’10 and 200 lbs., having battled people telling you you’re overweight for your whole life, you have to decide what you believe: their rigidly tight version of who you are, or what you know can be true.
“As the Olympics officially start, I want you all to take a look at all the different body types on display. All body types matter. 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 bodies are beautiful and can do amazing things. So truly see yourself in these athletes and know you can do it, too.”
#beastbeautybrains is her hashtag and it speaks so loudly against those rules and roles we are sometimes so stuck inside of. Some of us have been in them for so long that we don’t know how to break out of them, because it’s easier to believe that others are right than to do the work to stand against and stand for ourselves.
But Ilona is here to demonstrate, to all women everywhere, that it is your right to take up space. Not only is it your right, but when you do it with confidence, loudly, the space around you grows greater with your presence. This is what I’m teaching my girls.
Her signature red lip was first a Fuck You to the male-dominated sport and all the haters who didn’t think that a strong and sturdy women of her size and build could be feminine. But it’s become “war paint” to her, and she dons it while playing to prove you don’t have to be just one thing.
She contains multitudes.
If you have to go into beast mode to get down the field, whichever field you’re playing on, let Ilona be your mascot.
She’s strong as hell, have you seen the stiff arm??
She’s fast as fuck, have you seen the run that defeated Japan?
She loves her friends and she loves herself.
And best of all: she’s game. She’s in it to win it, and I’m not just talking about rugby, I’m talking about life.
She kicks a**.
She’s the bomb, I was appalled at the haters taking about her BMI. and I loved her response. She’s in the Olympics!