Olympian Ilona Maher Can't Keep Up With DMs, Wants Letters Instead

1 month ago 1

Team USA rugby star Ilona Maher has been feeling the love while competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I’m going to be honest, I get so many DM slides that — and it’s not a lot of even people who are into me — it’s just nice messages,” Maher, 27, exclusively told Us Weekly. “So maybe they’re in there. I don’t know.”

Overwhelmed with her inbox, Maher suggested fans and potential love interests alike take up a different route to reach her.

“I get so many, I can’t sort through it,” she said. “So if you are [interested], please, I don’t know, find a better way. Send me a letter or something. Send a pigeon my way.”

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Maher, who previously compared the Olympic Village to the Love Island villa, noted that she didn’t have time to date around. After all, she was busy winning a bronze medal. (Maher and her teammates earned the U.S. its first Olympic medal in women’s rugby sevens on July 30.)

“You know what, everyone keeps asking me that after I won a medal and I was like, ‘This is a little busy people. Little busy here winning a medal,’” she said. “I haven’t, honestly, it has been truly crazy.”

Ilona Maher Can t Keep Up With Her DMs Asks for Suitors to Send Letters

If Maher hadn’t won a medal, she noted that maybe she’d have time to pursue romantic connections — but she wouldn’t want to rewrite history.

“I’d rather win a medal than go on a few dates in the Olympic villa,” she said. “I think people have to realize everyone else is competing in the villa as well, so it’s very hard to even meet people to go out and hang out with people. We’re all focused on our games and then once we win, maybe [we] can have some fun. So the Olympics isn’t done, but I’ve been a busy working girl.”

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When she’s not on the field, Maher is teaming up with Secret Outlast deodorant to create a rugby campaign alongside her teammates.

“I think what really made me want to partner with Secret is that it was a team-minded thing as well. I love my teammates. I want to see my teammates succeed,” she explained. “So to have a brand like Secret want to create a rugby campaign that we’ve never seen before in the U.S. and also involve my teammates in showcase rugby in this light was so exciting for not only me, but I think all of USA rugby, my coaches [and] staff.”