"About time we all paid attention to a woman like Ilona Maher!" - Lindsey Vonn lauds the American rugby player for her advocacy for women

Former alpine skier Lindsey Vonn lauded rugby player Ilona Maher and called her as one of the advocates for women of all shapes and sizes. Maher played an important role at the 2024 Paris Olympics as she helped the US women's rugby team win bronze. During the event she also stated that women who run and tackle with muscular bodies can also be feminine.

Ilona Maher holds a master's degree in business and a nursing degree but she chose rugby to promote body positivity and encourage more women to take up sports. After her Paris Olympic success, Maher explained how rugby players are believed to be masculine but she and her team rallied to break that stereotype through their sport.

"I think the stereotype around a rugby player is this idea that you need to drop your femininity and play a very masculine, brutal sport. Myself and my team and some others on the circuit like Australia and Ireland, are showing that femininity," she said. (via The Associated Press)

Maher's advocacy caught the attention of former alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, who penned a note for the former's 2024 Time 100 Next bio. Vonn alerted the world to focus on the US Women's Rugby Sevens athlete balancing physical strength and inner confidence like an icon.

"It’s about time we all paid attention to a woman like Ilona Maher! Many women, including myself, have tried to advocate for strong women of all shapes and sizes, but Ilona has taken that to a whole new level. She represents not just physical strength but also what internal confidence looks like," Vonn wrote.

She further wrote:

"In a social media world of fake perfection and judgment, Ilona is showing the next generation of women that every shape and size can be both strong and beautiful."

While Ilona Maher competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she put up several body positivity-related videos on her TikTok handle.

Lindsey Vonn on Ilona Maher eating a "giant croissant" at the Paris Olympics

Ilona Maher at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards; Source: Getty

Ilona Maher not only made history with her rugby performance, but she also normalized eating a croissant, unbothered about her image. In an Instagram post from a month ago, she was seen indulging in the delicacy with the bronze medal around her neck.

Her in-video caption read:

"A light snack'

Lindsey Vonn recalled the croissant-eating moment of Maher and wrote in the bio of Time 100 Next that the Olympian represented all the other women out there.

"She works hard, shows her muscles, recently posed for the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, and ate a giant croissant in Paris that I was very jealous of. Ilona is all of us."

Maher also played Little League softball as a youngster. At a Women's SVNS tournament in Paris, she made her debut with the USA Rugby World Cup Sevens team in 2018.