Her raw strength and speed — and the way she effortlessly stiff-arms opponents — have left Olympic commentators in awe.
Her videos with celebrity rapper Snoop Dogg and retired football star Jason Kelce have racked up millions of views on social media.
Now, Burlington’s very own women’s Rugby Sevens star Ilona Maher is an Olympic medalist — the state’s first at the summer games since fellow Burlingtonian Laura Graves brought home the bronze medal in the team dressage competition at the 2016 Olympics.
The USA’s women’s Rugby Sevens team overcame Australia in dramatic fashion in the bronze medal final on Tuesday afternoon, scoring in the final seconds of regulation time to steal a 14-12 victory at the Stade de France in Paris. It is the first time the U.S. has medalled in rugby since 1924 games, also held in Paris, when the men’s team won gold.
In just a short time, Maher has become one of the most recognizable athletes for Team USA at this summer’s games. Her Instagram and TikTok accounts — where she documents life in the Olympic village, from the food to the uniforms — each boast more than 1.8 million followers.
But it is Maher’s athletic prowess that has brought her to the pinnacle of women’s rugby. At the Olympics in 2020, Maher and Team USA fell to Great Britain in the quarterfinal stage and placed sixth overall.
This time around, Maher led the Americans to victories over Japan and Brazil, and got revenge against Great Britain in the quarterfinals, beating them 17-7 on Monday. Despite losing to favorites New Zealand in the semifinal game Tuesday morning, Maher and Team USA secured a place on the podium with their surprise win over Australia later that day.
It is an unlikely outcome for 28-year-old Maher, who played softball, basketball and field hockey at Burlington High School, and did not begin playing rugby until she was 17.
Two other Green Mountain State athletes — Norwich rower William Bender and Montgomery runner Elle Purrier St. Pierre — are also competing in Paris this year. Bender will row in the men’s pairs semifinal on Wednesday, while Purrier St. Pierre will run the women’s 1500-meter race on Aug. 6.
Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an error in the last name of one Olympian.
