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“It’s so much easier to be yourself than it is to be anybody else.”
Viral rugby star and Vermont native Ilona Maher joined the Burlington, Vt. community Saturday morning to celebrate the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team’s first-ever Olympic medal.
The 28-year-old helped Team USA earn an historic bronze at the 2024 Paris Games after a last-minute win over Australia. She returned to Vermont on Thursday, and the victory was commemorated at Battery Park in an event organized by her alma mater, Burlington High School.
“It’s so much easier to be yourself than it is to be anybody else,” Maher said to a crowd of over 100 community 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 then received keys to the high school’s athletic 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 reality show “Love Island,” she also serves as a champion of the body positivity movement and an advocate for women in sports, coining the hashtag #beastbeautybrains.
Maher has also promoted the Paralympics on her social media accounts, which kick off next Wednesday, Aug. 28.
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