"Hope to be there with you every step" - Ilona Maher shares heartfelt birthday wish for teammate Nicole Heavirland ahead of PWR Playoffs 

Ilona Maher sent a heartfelt birthday wish to her US rugby teammate, Nicole Heavirland, a traveling alternate at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Maher is gearing up for her debut PWR playoff with her team against the Gloucester-Hartpury at Kingsholm on March 2, 2025.

Ilona Maher, 28, the rugby star with the most social media following, represented Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She also traveled to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where her and her team's effort earned them the bronze. Although Maher is playing with the PWR on a three-month contract now, she never misses out on sending love and support to her US teammates.

In a recent Instagram post, Ilona Maher penned a heartfelt birthday note for Nicole Heavirland, the traveling alternate at the Paris Games and the former's close friend.

"Happy birthday to the LOML. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. This is probably the longest we’ve gone without seeing each other and it has been tough. I know that changes will be coming for both of us but I’m always so proud of how you handle every situation. I know that your dirty 30’s are gonna be a heck of a ride and I hope to be there with you every step of the way. I’d run across the river (Atlantic Ocean and all of mainland USA) just to hold you tonight," she wrote.

"PS: If we’re single at 40 let’s get married and you can be my stay-at-home yoga instructor," she added.

Heavirland debuted in the United States in 201 and represented her team at the 2020 Tokyo Games, alongside Maher. She was also part of the US women's rugby squad at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.

Ilona Maher recently addressed body shape stereotypes and extended a reminder to embrace all body shapes and sizes

Maher looking on at the Harlequins v Bristol Bears match - Premiership Women's Rugby - (Source: Getty)

Ilona Maher garnered fame for stepping up as a body positivity advocate. She uniquely takes on the topic through skits on social media. Recently, she addressed the tendency of people to constantly run behind slimmer bodies whereas, to her, all bodies of all shapes and sizes are equally attractive. She posted a video on her Instagram handle, saying:

"I feel like every time I open up social media nowadays, I'm hit with an ad for a weight loss supplement, or I see a thin celebrity is even thinner. Recently, I've been getting before, and afters, where the before is a gorgeous girl and the after, is also a gorgeous girl, but it almost makes me seem like that before wasn't worthy."

"And here I am with another gentle but firm reminder that it's okay to exist in a bigger body. A lot of us are not meant to be small. I'm not meant to be small. This big old frame, I'm supposed to be 200 pounds which is what I am now. I just think we are getting this messaging that this is what's right, this is what's beautiful and it's just not the case. There's beauty in so many shapes and sizes," Ilona Maher added.

The Olympic bronze medalist graced the Swimsuit cover of Sports Illustrated after her Paris Olympic feat. She even garnered a record crowd to her PWR debut match at the Ashton Gate Stadium in January.