Ilona Maher was already internet royalty—by blood, at least (her sister invented ‘girl dinner’)—but as of this week, the rugby player is undeniably one of the Paris Olympics’ biggest breakout stars.
While the 27-year-old helped Team USA’s rugby team win a bronze medal last night, that’s far from the only reason Ilona is having a moment.
Refreshingly candid and effortlessly cool, it’s impossible not to like the Olympian, whose now-viral TikTok addresses everything from body-shaming to biased gender stereotypes in sports—all while keeping her sharp sense of humour and looking flawless with bold red lips.
In fact, while such a strong shade of lipstick seems like an odd juxtaposition for such a strong athlete, that’s the whole point: Ilona is actively combatting clichés about women in sports. Her Instagram bio even says, “Probably wearing lipstick.” And like, same, but it’s probably less impressive coming from me.
As for why the Olympic medalist decided to make it her thing? Ilona told CBS Mornings it was pretty much a “stick it to the man” situation. “It doesn’t take away from your athletic ability if you wear makeup,” she said. If you want to put on a full face of makeup to go tackle people, good on you if you’re doing it.”
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
Ilona continued that she doesn’t “want to just be one thing out there” and feels that she can “be a beast and can play this very physical aggressive sport while also keeping my femininity” as she does it.
“The lipstick was just kind of a little way to bring that onto the field and [when] I saw the response that people loved it, almost in a business sense as well, and I was like, ‘oh, let’s wear lipstick!’ I would love to see if a makeup deal comes on!’” she said of why the tradition continued for the Olympics. “And there’s a certain lipstick I wear that I always love.”
That there is, and while we don’t know if there’s a brand deal yet, we do know which one it is: Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink, which, by the way, is only £10.