Olympics Star Ilona Maher Wears Lipstick on Rugby Pitch to Buck Stereotypes That It's a 'Man's Sport' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Team USAstarIlona Maherhas been known to rock a red lip, both on the field and off.

The newly mintedbronze medalist, 27, even has her penchant for glam included in herInstagrambio: “Probably wearing lipstick.”

“We’re wearing makeup because we want to wear it and it makes us feel good, and I think we’re showing that it doesn’t take away from how we play on the field,” she says. “My lipstick doesn’t take away from how hard I hit, from how I read the game, from how I run. It’s just something that we do to kind of say, ‘F you’ to those standards in what is thought of as a man’s sport.”

Ilone Maher rocks red lipstick.Courtesy of Secret

Courtesy of Secret

Ilona Maher.Cameron Spencer/Getty

Cameron Spencer/Getty

“It’s important for me because I’ve gotten to a place where I’m pretty accepting of my body and I appreciate it, but I know a lot of girls aren’t in that place, and it works to see somebody who is,” she says. “For me, it’s important to do a constant stream of it because they’ll see one video on BMI and feel really good, but then three videos down is something that makes them feel bad. I’ve done videos on cellulite, BMI, being called a man. It’s important to me that it’s never just one and done.”

Maher also emphasizes the importance of a strong support system in being able to put her best foot forward, which for her includes her parents, her two sisters, and yes, Secret, whichput out an ad in Junefeaturing Maher and her teammates.

“They were going to recognize us even if we didn’t win a medal,” she says. “For them to want to do that, whether we’re winners or not, they saw the value in us and believed in us.”

“I hope they’re like, ‘What is that? What are they doing there?’ ” she says. “And then maybe like, ‘Mom, what’s happening there? I kind of wand to try that.’ ”

source: people.com