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Olympian and Bristol Bears' Ilona Maher shared a special message for her fans on Instagram to thank them for their support. Maher represents the USA Women's Rugby Sevens Team as well as the Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Women's Rugby league. She also played for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Olympics in 2024. She and her team won the first-ever bronze medal for the US in Rugby Sevens in Paris.
Maher has close to five million followers on Instagram, where she shared her message to her fans in a reel captioned with:
"I just wanna say thank you to all my followers and fans who continue to support me and want to watch me succeed. I am where I am because of all of you. You mean the world to me," said Ilona Maher
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Maher's Instagram reel also had a message, which read:
"A lot of moments been feeling like Hoziers yell recently. Thank you for giving me those."
Maher has a large social media presence, roughly over eight million followers across Instagram and TikTok. She has regularly used her social media profiles to spread the message of body positivity.
Her popularity was there for everyone to witness live on her debut for the Bristol Bears when a record-breaking crowd of 9,240 fans came to watch her play as the Bears took on Gloucester-Hartpury.
Ilona Maher on meeting female activist Malala Yousafzai
Ilona Maher took to Instagram to share a heartwarming statement on meeting Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, calling it a moment that she would remember for the rest of her life.
The 28-year-old from Vermont acts as a role model for young girls. On the other hand, Yousafzai is known for advocating for girls' education and garnered significant media attention in October 2012 when she was shot by the Taliban for opposing restrictions on female education in Pakistan.
Maher shared her statement on Instagram after meeting Yousafzai, captioning it:
"After the game [against Bath rugby], I got to meet her in person and that will be a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. While we were chatting Malala kept saying how inspirational I am and thanking me for all I’ve done. While I was standing there, I almost wanted to look behind me and make sure MALALA (the most inspirational powerful woman on the planet) was saying this about me." - Ilona Maher on Instagram
Maher's focus will now shift to the USA Women's Eagles Team after the Bristol Bears lost to rivals Gloucester-Hartpury in their semi-final outing on March 2.
