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Louise Thomas
Editor
Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher has been praised for her response to a body-shaming attempt.
The 27-year-old competitor for Team USA at the Paris 2024 Olympics recently responded to a troll criticizing her weight and body mass index (BMI).
Since before this year’s games kicked off on July 26, Maher has frequently posted on her TikTok, sharing insight into her lead-up to the games and the athlete experience inside Paris’ Olympic village.
While the two-time Olympic athlete’s page has been received with widespread support, a few commenters have taken it upon themselves to judge her body. One person wrote: “I bet that person has a 30 percent BMI.”
To that, Maher said: “I think you were trying to roast me, but this actually is a fact. I do have a BMI of 30 — well, 29.3 to be more exact.”
The standout competitor continued: “As long as haters keep saying dumb stuff, I’m gonna keep clapping back.”
Maher then detailed her measurements, admitting she’s five-foot-ten-inches tall and 200 pounds. She went on to say that she’s been “considered overweight” her whole life because of the BMI category she’s in. Cleveland Clinic considers a BMI of 25 to 29.9 “overweight” and a BMI of 30 or above “obese.”
While she’s dealt with the label her whole life, Maher isn’t letting the BMI estimate define her or her view of herself, especially since Cleveland Clinic notes that the BMI doesn’t properly account for muscle weight. According to Maher, 170 pounds is “lean muscle mass.”
After chatting with her doctor, the Olympic athlete concluded BMI shouldn’t be considered in her case. “BMI doesn’t really tell you what I can do. It doesn’t tell you what I do on the field, how fit I am,” she confessed. “It’s just a couple numbers put together. It doesn’t tell you how much muscle I have or anything like that. So yeah, I do have a BMI of 30.”
In conclusion, Maher said to her haters: “I am considered overweight. But alas, I’m going to the Olympics and you’re not.”
A flock of supporters took to her comments section, showing their love for Maher. “You are perfect,” one woman wrote, while another added: “You’re an Olympic level athlete, I don’t think anymore needs to be said. You compete at the highest level, whatever you’re currently doing is working!”
In a follow-up post on July 18, Maher addressed her body criticism again, specifically referencing her shoulders. “I always tried to hide my shoulders,” she said. “I always had really long hair because I wanted to cover it and seem feminine. It’s really taken years of learning and deprogramming to love my big shoulders and to really find them beautiful.”
