Ilona Maher takes women's rugby onto new plane
She played a pivotal role in the USA women's team winning a first ever Olympic medal, beating Australia in the third-place playoff in Paris last year. On the back of that achievement, Maher featured in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition and appeared in the US version of hit TV show 'Dancing with the Stars', finishing runner-up.
The Maher-fuelled improvement of the USA team attracted the attention of American investor Michele Kang who donated $4 million to help develop the USA Women's Rugby Sevens Team over four years.
In another sport, Kang owns the Lyon women's football team, the eight-time European champions.
Maher's days in Paris were not just spent playing rugby but also attracting even more followers with her pithy social media posts. She compared life in the Athletes' Village to a reality TV show, in one humorous posting saying she was there 'looking for love', to which her friend replies: 'No you are here to play rugby.'
In more reflective mode in Paris, she told the Bleacher Report one of her goals was trying to reassure 'girls' that playing sport did not take away their 'girliness'.
'What we're trying to show is the beauty that in sports you can be a badass on the field, you can be a beast on the field, but also be a beauty,' she said.
'It's really important for me because I want girls to see what their body is capable of. 'It's not just to be looked at, objectified, but it's strong and it's fast, and it's brilliant.' Maher, who through her body positivity push has become a brand ambassador for a deodorant and a skincare product she co-founded, revels in her global popularity and being 'America's sweetheart.'
'I love when people call me that because I feel like I'm maybe not the image you would have of a sweetheart in some sense of the word,' Maher told CNN in January this year. 'I'm honoured.' – AFP
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Kuwait Times
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