Ilona Maher makes feelings crystal clear on people asking her whether bikini shoot for SI Swimsuit was hard

Ilona Maher gave a befitting reply to people asking her whether being in a bikini was hard during the photoshoot for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover. The American rugby union player has faced significant trolling for her body but is absolutely proud of it.

Maher's popularity grew enormously after she led the USA women's rugby sevens team to the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the first in the team's history. Alongside a stint on the Dancing With The Stars, it also earned a spot on the front cover of SI Swimsuit cover.

The two-time Olympian recently addressed the criticism of her body in reference to wearing a bikini for the Swimsuit cover and made it clear that she loved wearing it.

"People ask me, 'Was it hard being in a bikini?'. No, it wasn't. I loved it," she said in an interview with her new sponsor, Addidas.

Maher revealed in the caption of the video that similar questions were asked to her at interviews, but the Adidas host didn't.

The Olympic medalist has been spreading awareness through her social media platforms about body weight and has repeatedly made it clear that "it's okay to exist in a bigger body." Maher has also spoken out against the weight loss frenzy in the world, arguing that a thinner body doesn't mean being fitter.

"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 said

Maher played for the Bristol Bears in the latter half of the 2024/25 Premiership Women's Rugby season and led them to the semifinals. She now plans to make a return to the USA Women's Rugby 15s team after not having featured since 2021.

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Ilona Maher reveals why it's important for her to appreciate her body

Ilona Maher during Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby Semi Final - Source: Getty

Speaking in an interview with CNN recently, Ilona Maher suggested that one of the reasons it was important for her to appreciate her body publicly was to help other people who dealt with similar body shape insecurities.

"It was important for me to show many sides of me and the body positivity, body appreciation side kind of came naturally in a way because it is something that I feel strongly about. Also, with a lot of my content, I try to see what’s relatable for others. And it’s so interesting in my time of learning to appreciate my body, you kind of start to realize, Oh, everybody has insecurities,'" Ilona Maher said.

Maher has been vocal about spreading body positivity and spreads awareness about the issues through her social media platforms. She is the most followed rugby player in the world, with over 8 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, and is making good use of her ever-increasing popularity.