The 2024 Paris Olympics promises to be a special year, and not just because the last Summer Olympics were held off-scheduled in Tokyo in 2020. More importantly, the timing is just right, given the surge in television viewership for women’s sports.
American rugby star Ilona Maher, a strong, fast 5-foot-10 veteran who plays center and prop for Team USA, believes Paris 2024 could be rugby’s time to shine, with the special support of the U.S. women’s team.
“It’s going to be very different from Tokyo, which was post-COVID, there were no spectators, there were very many restrictions and it was not a normal Olympics,” Maher said in a recent interview via Zoom.
“Sport-wise, since Rio (2016) we’ve seen more people playing rugby every time we’ve been to an Olympics,” Maher added.
The 27-year-old lifelong athlete started playing rugby 10 years ago, just before starting university, and added that after the past two Olympics “girls have come up to me and my teammates and said, ‘I saw you at the Olympics and I joined women’s rugby'”.
Maher said he hopes this year’s Olympics, combined with the sports frenzy generated by basketball sensation Caitlin Clark and other stars, will lead to a boost for women’s sports.
“We’re hopeful that our sport will pick up again. The Olympics are very important because it’s all in the spotlight,” Maher said.
Related article: Is Ilona Maher the most exciting player in rugby?
Rugby aficionados generally follow two main formats of the international match.
Rugby 15-man The game format of rugby union sees 15 players on each team competing in two 40-minute halves, which allows a strong, versatile player like centre Maher to be a key playmaker in both attack and defence.
VIDEO: Maher and US rugby players ‘covered in mud’ on and off field in Laos
after that Rugby Sevensis a short seven-on-seven match played on a similar field, and is also used in the Olympics. Some say that not only is the match shorter, but the ball moves faster, making it more entertaining for television viewers.
Maher said Americans’ love of high-scoring, fast-paced sport is a factor in the small but growing rugby audience in the U.S., and that Americans are receptive to the dynamic nature of rugby sevens.
Maher says social media is one thing that is helping him achieve his mission of raising interest in rugby and ultimately getting more girls involved in the game: “Social media is a particularly powerful tool in getting more girls and boys involved in rugby.”
Maher explained that Americans are still falling in love with the sport: “A lot of times, people see a video of me or someone else sprinting with the ball and hitting it, and they stand up and say, ‘What is this?'”
Maher currently boasts more than 500,000 active Instagram followers, double the number of followers of the United States Rugby Union and more than any other American rugby player. Maher also has 1.1 million followers on TikTok.
“TikTok has been great for me personally and for female athletes, (social media) is a key brand-building vehicle. Like a lot of women’s sports, you don’t make a ton of money playing rugby, but for those who play rugby and love it as a job, social media is now their way of doing things.”
In addition to being a social media celebrity, Maher was asked to give a TEDx Talk on the themes of drive and dedication, has garnered attention from Shape and Access Hollywood magazines, and was featured in People magazine earlier this year.
Maher also said he believes female athletes often have more talent, especially on social media.
“I think star power helps in certain sports, and female athletes often connect better and more with their fans through their own personalities, like Kaitlyn Clark in basketball, Serena Williams in tennis and Ronda Rousey in mixed martial arts,” she says.
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As the final leg of Olympic trials for athletes across many sports concluded this month in the United States, USA Rugby’s highest-profile player received an endorsement from one of the country’s biggest brands.
Secret Deodorant recently announced a partnership with Maher as a brand ambassador as part of the brand’s support for Team USA’s participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“Ilona Maher is widely known for her incredible performance in college and representing the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics, but she is also known for her advocacy of body positivity among women, promoting authenticity and making bold beauty choices,” Secret said in a statement.
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“It’s really cool to partner with Secret right before the Olympics,” Maher said. “Obviously I’m involved in a sport where you get really close — you scrum, you tackle each other, you sweat a lot.”
“My personal brand is all about authenticity,” she says, and while she and her teammates often joke about who is the sweatiest player on the team, Maher adds, “body positivity-wise, sweating is the most natural thing in the world, especially for an athlete.”
In addition to her new ambassador role with Secret, Maher has also partnered with Medalist, a new skincare brand targeted at “the next generation of female athletes and active women,” which will launch on July 1 to coincide with the Olympics.
Maher said she hopes the visibility she’s getting through the Olympics and social media will continue to create opportunities for her and her teammates.
“It’s great to have us recognized as a group of cool girls and for people to recognize all that we’ve accomplished as a team and all that our sport can do.”
Read Fry’s recent interview Dara Torres and Rose Label.
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