There’s no one quite like Ilona Maher.
Whether you’re one of her 6.2 million followers across social media, subscribed to Sports Illustrated or tuned into NBC this past summer to watch the Olympics, you’ve probably heard the name before.
But before she was a part of USA Rugby’s first team to medal in the Olympics in over 100 years, or taking selfies with Tom Brady, she was a Bobcat.
‘GOD-GIFTED SPEED, TALENT AND SIZE’
A key member in Quinnipiac rugby’s three-straight NIRA national championships, Maher ‘18, left her mark in Hamden long before she became a household name across the country.
And if you ask Quinnipiac head coach Becky Carlson — it was only a matter of time.
“When she was here, the conversation I had with her, I was like, ‘You’re going, like, you’re gonna go play in the Olympics. You know that, right?’” Carlson said. “It’s not going to come from the stuff I teach you … You have god-gifted speed, talent and size.”
Before Maher was a Bobcat, the Burlington, Vermont, native spent her freshman year at Norwich University, but an email to Carlson put the wheels in motion to bring her to Quinnipiac.
“I remember I emailed her, I was like ‘Hey I’m looking to transfer, I played your school in-season, I wore the pink scrum cap. Is there a place for me?’” Maher said in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle. “I will always be grateful to her for making it work, to make it work financially as well.”
From there on out, Maher made her impact felt everywhere, the pitch, the weight room, even in clinicals.
“It’s kind of what I’ve been preaching, that athletes can be more than one thing,” Maher said. “At Quinnipiac, I did nursing and rugby and I didn’t want to sacrifice one over the other. I didn’t want to be just good at rugby and mid at nursing. I wanted to be good at both things.”
Maher’s heavy workload only increased the pressure on her, but as the saying goes, ‘pressure makes diamonds.’
“It wasn’t always easy,” Maher said. “(Carlson) ran the program like a (Division I) program, as it should be run. She ran the program like a tight ship, which I think actually helped me to become the athlete I am today with USA Rugby.”
The 2016 National Player of the Year didn’t just rely on her “god-gifted speed talent and size,” as Carlson put it, to make her into an Olympian. She outworked everybody, even Carlson couldn’t keep up.
“After she went to practice, she trained, before she went to practice, she trained and then she went to clinicals, and then she went in with coach (Emily) Webster and pushed more sleds and hauled ropes and did all kinds of stuff,” Carlson said. “I worked out with her once and I threw up over my shoulder.”
But there is something more important than pushing sleds or lifting weights that shaped Maher into the star she is today.
Carlson allowed Ilona to be Ilona, and it’s still visible today. She’s always been more than just a rugby player.
“(Carlson) really also preached the versatility and multi-talents of her athletes and how they can’t just be a rugby player,” Maher said. “They have to be more than that. I think she really instilled that in me.”
Even after all these years, Carlson won’t take any credit for what Maher has become as a player and a person.
“I didn’t do it. Quinnipiac didn’t do it. Strength and condition didn’t do it. Ilona did it,” Carlson said. “It is absolutely, 100%, on Ilona that she went to the Olympics.”
‘WE’RE ALL JUST HUMAN TOO’
Seven years after Maher stepped off the pitch in Hamden she stepped onto the pitch in Paris, her second Olympic appearance after Tokyo in 2021.
This time it was different. Not only was Maher more well known, but the women’s rugby sevens squad had the chance to do something historic.
Maher was right in the middle of that history, as the U.S. topped Australia 14-12 in the bronze medal match, after falling to New Zealand in the semi-finals. The win marked the first medal for the women’s team in history, and the first U.S. rugby medal in over 100 years.
@ilonamaher Here to remind you all…I also f*ckin ball
“In a way sometimes it doesn’t feel real because we’ve been dreaming about that for years now,” Maher said. “It just felt so good because we did it not just for ourselves but for the team, the program as a whole, for our families.”
Maher became one of the faces of the U.S. during the 2024 Summer Games, going viral over eating massive croissants, interacting with athletes and spreading her message of body positivity.
@ilonamaher Seen yourself in these athletes @paris2024 @Team USA @Olympics #olympics
“I’m honored to take on that role,” Ma- her said. “I love showing myself, I love showing my team and our sport. I also think it’s easy to take on that role when I have a team that really supports me in doing it. It makes it easier when you have people who aren’t going to judge you, and really respect and see what you’re doing.”
Her social media platform put her on a stage with some of the most famous people in the world. From interactions with former NFL player Jason Kelce, gold medal gymnast Simone Biles and rapper Snoop Dogg, Maher’s message of being more than an athlete became even clearer.
@ilonamaher Had to get a pic for my teammate @Kirsh
“I think what’s been really cool in this business and getting to know more people out there, is realizing, ‘Oh shit, they’re just like me.’ They’re people, they’re human,” Maher said. “That’s what I’m trying to also preach, as an athlete, as an Olympic rugby player. They put us on a pedestal and think of us as indestructible, but we’re all just human too.”
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Life after the games hasn’t gotten any easier for Maher. In a way, it’s gotten harder. She’s no longer in her element on the pitch, but instead in uncomfortable territory in Hollywood.
From ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers,’ the cover of Sports Illustrated and now ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ turn the channel and you’ll probably find Maher.
“I talked to her two days ago and we were just chatting, and to me, it’s just like chatting to a player,” Carlson said. “Then you watch her on Seth Myers and you’re like ‘Wow this is so wild.’”
Maher is just trying to take it one day at a time. If anybody can handle the pressure, it’s her.
“It’s been overwhelming at times,” Maher said. “I’m trying to have fun with it and put some work in and see what I can continue to do.”
After all, there is no one quite like Ilona Maher.
