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.”
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.”
The athlete and rising social media creator is shaping our 2024 Olympic experience.
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.
“Lipstick is my way of saying how I feel, how I want to be presented. I can wear bright colours on the field because I have a lipstick that I really trust is going to stay on my face,” Ilona told Allure. “The lipstick I wear on the field is Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink. It stays up to the point where you’ve got to work to get it off.”
And if you want to apply some before you hit the field or court, so be it. Both Ilona and Simone Biles are doing it, anyway.
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“You don’t have to sacrifice your femininity to play any sport, whether it’s softball, field hockey, basketball, rugby, and I think a lot of the sevens players even now that I play against are doing that as well,” she concluded. “I see them put on a full face of makeup before they go play rugby, and they are the most badass women on the planet. It’s just a little bit of not changing who I am no matter what I’m doing.”
Going for gold with hair, nails, wax and lashes.
Now excuse me as I go follow Ilona Maher on every social media platform and stock up on her sweat-proof lipstick.
A version of this article originally appeared on Glamour US.
