Key Takeaways
- During the 2024 Olympics, Ilona humorously sought love on TikTok, saying, “I’m here to find love.”
- At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal.
- In August 2024, she posed for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
Ilona Maher, the American rugby union player, is currently single and has no wife or partner.
During the 2024 Olympic Games, Maher shared a TikTok video humorously expressing her quest for love at the Olympic Village with the caption, “I’m here to find love.”
@ilonamaher I got a text!!@Love Island ♬ original sound – Ilona Maher
She joked about hoping to meet a potential match while staying with fellow athletes at the Olympic Village.
Furthermore, she disclosed that she hoped to “couple up” with someone soon after the games started.
The athlete appeared to have promptly found a match, as she wrote in the caption, “I got a text!!”
The official account for the 2024 Paris Games (@paris2024) commented:
You can find Love AND play rugby 🤭❤️.
She further captivated audiences online with her villa-themed content, showcasing the Olympic Village, where the world’s top athletes will be housed.
“Here to cause a ruckus,” Ilona captioned a TikTok post tagging the Love Island franchise.
In the video, the Olympian showed off an official Team U.S.A. bikini designed by Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS brand.
While she shared some views on dating during the Olympics, she did not reveal whether she had found the love of her life.
With no wife and being unmarried, her sole focus is on pursuing her rugby career.
Ilona Maher: 2024 Olympic Bronze Medalist And Social Media Icon
Ilona Maher, born on August 12, 1996, and now 28, was encouraged by her parents, Michael and Mieneke, to play sports from a young age. Her father is a former rugby player.
At 17, she started playing rugby for the South Burlington School Rugby Football Club, having previously played field hockey, basketball, and soccer at Burlington High School.
Later, after joining the Quinnipiac Bobcats, Maher played center and secured three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) championships.
She debuted with the USA Rugby World Cup Sevens team in 2018 at a Women’s SVNS tournament in Paris.
In 2021, Maher competed in rugby sevens at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and was later chosen to represent the United States at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.
Maher competed in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with the U.S. Women’s Sevens team, earning a bronze medal.
In August 2024, she expanded her career portfolio by posing for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, showcasing her athletic figure in three bikinis for the September issue.
With 2.3 million followers on TikTok, she’s also an internet sensation known for her rugby skills, iconic red lipstick, and humorous TikToks.
She is the most followed rugby player in the world on Instagram, having over 3.8 million followers.
Since the Olympics began, she’s been active on social media, sharing glimpses of the Olympic Village, her new medal, and her search for love.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- In 2018, Ilona Maher graduated with a nursing degree from Quinnipiac University and earned an MBA from DeVry University in 2022.
- Off the field, Maher advocates for gender equality in sports, addressing pay inequities and emphasizing the need for visibility for women athletes.
- In 2024, she became a brand ambassador for Secret deodorant and co-founded a new skincare brand, Medalist.
