What does it mean to run, throw, or hit like a girl? Can’t a girl be athletic and feminine? For two-time Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher, brawn and beauty go hand in hand. 

Only two months after the USA women’s rugby team took bronze in the Paris 2024 Olympics, Maher was named a contestant on the 33rd season of Dancing with the Stars. Maher told Good Morning America she joined the cast not only to represent women’s rugby, but also to promote body positivity.

“My new goal for this is to show that all body types can express themselves through dance and feel sexy and beautiful when you’re out on the dance floor,” Maher said. “I’m excited because I don’t think you see a lot of my body types doing the tango or the rumba or the cha-cha.”

Maher’s personal journey towards self-acceptance inspired her social platform, which includes the hashtag #beastbeautybrains. The platform promotes that women can be athletic, beautiful, and smart without having to sacrifice any part of themselves. 

“Rugby players are so multidimensional. You know, we go out there and we’re beast, but I can also be a beauty,” Maher said. 

Maher began her rugby career at age 17 when she decided to broaden her sports interests. Maher’s excellence in rugby led her to Quinnipiac University where she won three national championships and made three All-American team appearances. 

In 2017, Maher received the MA Sorensen Award, recognizing her as the nation’s top collegiate women’s rugby athlete. Before she graduated college, Maher was named to the U.S. national rugby team.

Alongside her athletic success, Maher struggled with her self-image. She describes herself as a “bigger girl” with athletic features that don’t necessarily align with the societal image of femininity.

“I don’t think I ever fully hated my body,” Maher told Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. “I have so many memories of me crying to my mom, like, ‘Why do I look like this? Why am I bigger?’”

Maher describes self-acceptance as a journey, one that she shares with millions of followers on social media. She dedicates her TikTok and Instagram to encouraging women to accept themselves, regardless of how society tries to define them. Maher also sees her fair share of hate comments that target her appearance, but she uses them as fuel for her message.

“It’s been a constant uphill struggle, sometimes downhill,” Maher said. “When I’m done playing sports, my body’s going to change. When I have a baby, my body’s going to change. So I don’t think it’s ever just a linear, straight line.”

Maher looks to her teammates and other women’s rugby players for encouragement, particularly Naya Tapper. Maher hopes to embody Tapper’s self-confidence to encourage a whole new generation of young women discovering sports. 

In a red carpet interview with espnW, Maher expressed her support for encouraging body acceptance in younger women.

“Strength is really powerful, and your body is meant for a purpose,” said Maher. “I think as women sometimes our bodies are looked at as something to be objectified, and our bodies are so much more than that, and sports can show us what they can do.”

Stella Genge, a member of Drury’s women’s rugby team, says Maher has become her role model, one she wishes she would’ve known when she was younger. 

“Growing up in the dance world and the world of martial arts, I didn’t know there was a sport that fit my body type,” said Genge. “Once I joined rugby, I had a period of time where I thought I had to kind of hide that more feminine side of me, but seeing Ilona play in a full face of makeup inspired me to simply express myself how I wanted on the field.”

Genge appreciates Maher’s authenticity on social media, the side of a professional athlete’s life that fans don’t always get to see. “She is so honest about her life as an athlete and how not every day is perfect and how some days are more of a struggle than others.”

Having reached finalist status, Maher continues to use her time on Dancing with the Stars to encourage generations of women to accept themselves. Many of Maher’s dances aim to challenge social norms, including switching traditional dance roles by lifting her partner, Alan Bersten. She also pushes for costumes and dances that emphasize beauty alongside athleticism.

Maher shares the laughs and struggles of her dancing journey on social media, often with Bersten. She also continues to encourage other women to be themselves unapologetically.

“So many people feel like they have the right to comment on my body,” Maher said in an Instagram video. “This is me kind of taking back the narrative and showing you all through dance who I am and how I want to be portrayed.”