US Olympic star Ilona Maher reveals who she’s backing between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in the Presidential election

Olympic bronze medalist Ilona Maher is already the world’s most followed female rugby player on Instagram and is no stranger to making a name for herself in a predominantly male arena.

It’s something she’d like to see in Washington, too.

“I think it’s going to be cool because there’s an opportunity to represent women and change this country in a way that I think will benefit us,” the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model told SI after her revealing beach photo.

When asked if this means she is endorsing Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the November election, Maher replied succinctly: “That’s an endorsement of Kamala Harris.”

No, Maher isn’t supporting the Harris-Walz ticket just because it features a woman in the lead role.

The 27-year-old Vermont native was among the standouts at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris

Instead, the Vermont native is an outspoken supporter of abortion access and reproductive rights — an issue Trump has struggled on during this election campaign.

“I have enough money that if I didn’t need an abortion, I could raise a child of my own. If I wanted an abortion, I could do it,” Maher said. “So I have that privilege [but] it scares me for the other girls. I have options and I want to remember that, my followers don’t all. And that’s how it is for me, but especially for them.’

Maher delved into some other issues with SI.

Like female athletes around the world, she criticizes the gender pay gap in sports.

‘[Men] “They’re getting rugby and they’re getting paid millions of dollars while we’re making minimum wage and this is not going to be a career for us,” she said. “I’ve got teammates who are going out into the workforce now, while these guys are down there and rugby is the [for them].

Maher, who first rose to stardom three years ago by using her devilish sense of humor to document life behind the scenes at the Tokyo Olympics, helped the U.S. win a bronze medal at the Paris Games with a thrilling 14-12 victory over Australia. The bronze medal match ended with Alex “Spiff” Sedrick scoring a try from the length of the field as time expired, then kicking a shot through the posts.

Maher holds off Great Britain Women’s National Team’s Emma Uren #7 during the Paris Games

Maher’s teary-eyed post-game interview was so special to any American that he wanted to run through a wall. The 27-year-old Vermont native has a nursing degree and a master’s degree in business administration, but really just wants to play rugby and promote the sport to girls around the world.

She also wants to spread body positivity, something she now embraces.

“I was always, you know, called a man or something,” she told SI. “But I never felt that way. But I don’t think you’re going to bully the girl that you could probably beat up in anger. I think that’s great. [rugby] showed me what I can do. It showed me how capable my body is and that it’s not just an instrument to look at and objectify.’

Maher, who uses the hashtag #beastbeautybrains on social media, became the most followed rugby player on Instagram during these Games with 2 million followers. She has 1.9 million followers on TikTok.

She’s continued to document life at the Olympics, calling the Athletes’ Village “The Villa” in a nod to “Love Island” (she watches the UK version and thinks she could be on the show but “wouldn’t be the bomb”). But her biggest impact is her message of body positivity, and a two-month-old post resurfaced this week in which she hit back at a commentator who ridiculed her for having a body mass index (BMI) of 30.

“I think you were trying to roast me, but this is a fact. I have a BMI of 30 — well, 29.3 to be exact,” Maher said on TikTok. “I’ve been considered overweight my entire life.”

Maher carries the ball during the Bronze Final rugby 7 match between USA and Australia

She revealed that she weighs 200 pounds (90 kilograms) and is 5 feet 10 inches (178 centimeters) tall — the two measurements used to calculate BMI. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 and above is considered obese.

Maher said she felt humiliated by the label, especially when she turned in paperwork from a high school medical exam that showed she was overweight.

“I was so embarrassed to turn that in and have that written there,” Maher said on TikTok. “My whole life I’ve been like that.”

She said she was surprised to see “positive body image posts that were made months, years or weeks ago” resurface, but that it was an important message she wanted to convey.

“It’s like I’m always preaching, and it’s really important for me to constantly preach because the message never stops and young girls need to say, ‘Oh man, OK, I feel great about my body,'” she said. “I think it’s great. It needs to be a constant flow. I think there’s this idea of ​​what female athletes are and that they need to be thin and fit. But no, there are athletes of all shapes and sizes that compete in the Olympics.”

Team USA rugby Olympian Ilona Maher during an interview with host Seth Meyers on August 12

World Rugby’s women’s rugby director Sally Horrox said Maher was an “unprecedented” athlete who will help rugby grow.

“She doesn’t follow anyone. She’s leading the way,” Horrox told The Associated Press. “That profile in the US and her growing profile globally, that’s going to do wonders for rugby and for the women’s game. She speaks so powerfully about what rugby has done for her in terms of confidence, body image, opportunities and she wants that for girls in particular, and if it happens to be rugby, great.

“But she’ll talk about that purpose and the value of sport and health and lifestyle, and she’ll do that outside of the rugby arena. I’m really impressed, and she should be very proud of what she’s doing.”

Her teammates all share the same passion for Maher’s message. Sammy Sullivan, who started playing rugby at West Point, where she graduated in 2020 and is an active-duty Army captain, said the biggest stereotype female rugby players have to fight is that they can’t be girly girls.

“People see us as lacking femininity, and I think it’s the exact opposite,” Sullivan said. “I think strength, power, aggression can be feminine and can be beautiful if you want it to be. Our team is the epitome of that. We all express our femininity in different ways and that’s a beautiful thing about the women of USA rugby.”