Olympian Ilona Maher received a warm welcome back to Burlington

Posted on by knews.uk


Local news

“It’s so much easier to be yourself than to be someone else.”

USA's Ilona Maher, center, reacts as she stands on the podium with her bronze medal during the Rugby Sevens presentation ceremony at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

USA’s Ilona Maher, center, reacts as she stands on the podium with her bronze medal during the Rugby Sevens presentation ceremony at the 2024 Summer Olympics in France, July 30, 2024. AP Photo / Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

Viral rugby star and Vermont native Ilona Maher joined the Burlington, Vt. community Saturday morning to celebrate the U.S. women’s rugby team’s first-ever Olympic medal.

The 28-year-old helped Team USA earn a historic bronze at 2024 Paris game after a last minute victory across Australia. She returned to Vermont on Thursday, and the victory was celebrated at Battery Park in an event organized by her alma mater, Burlington High School.

“It’s so much easier to be yourself than to be someone else,” Maher told a crowd of more than 100 members.

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and Maher’s former field hockey coach Allyson Archacki also attended and spoke at the celebration. The rugby star was then given keys to the high school’s sports fields.

With over 3.5 million followers on Instagram, Maher has been a viral face of the Olympics, including during the Tokyo Games three years ago. In addition to comedic posts about the reality show “Love Island,” she also serves as a campaigner for body positivity movement and an advocate for women in sports, coining the hashtag #beastbeautybrains.

Maher has too promoted the Paralympics on her social media accounts, starting next Wednesday, August 28.