Ilona Maher’s Mindset on Wearing Makeup in the Weight Room Is a Relatable One

Fans and fellow athletes are loving the Olympic rugby player’s latest Instagram reel.

Ilona Maher / VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

Ilona Maher’s 25- second Instagram reel, shared to the app on Wednesday, Feb. 25, has drawn the attention of fellow Olympic athletes, who are putting their stamp of approval on the bronze-medal-winning rugby player’s message on wearing makeup in the gym.

The 29-year-old Vermont native shared the brief video to her 5.4 million followers on the app, which she began by posing a query on-screen that read, “Why do you wear makeup while you train?”

As the video transitioned into the athlete’s regimen, consisting of bench presses, pull-ups, chest-supported rows, bicep curls and pushups, her response to the question appeared, reading, “Why not? Not like it’s making me weaker.” She doubled down on the claim in the post's caption, penning, “My mascara ain’t making my muscles smaller or my work ethic nonexistent.”

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Maher’s message resonated with her fan base, who cheered on the athlete’s message. One user exclaimed, “She said what she said 🔥,” while another separately added, “I love this answer!!!”

Maher, who scored her first medal at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, was praised by more medal-winning athletes in the post’s comments.

“So strong💪🏽!!!! 🔥 I love it!” Two-time gold medal winner Claressa Shields declared.

“THISS🔥🔥😍,” said fellow bronze medalist Desirèe Henry.

“Look good. Feel good. Play good. Period,” gold medal-winning soccer player Sydney Leroux chimed in.

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Maher, who proudly reps the motto “Beast Beauty Brains,” as spotted in her Instagram bio, also brings the same mentality from the weight room to the rugby pitch—and publicly declared her stance for years.

“I play a sport that is traditionally very masculine. You have to be, supposedly, very manly to play. I think it’s putting female athletes in a box. So I wear makeup [on the pitch] to give a big ‘eff you’ to having to sacrifice my femininity,” she told Allure in July of 2024.

She later shared with the publication, “We’re seeing a lot of other [rugby] teams now wearing makeup, and it's celebrating that we are incredible athletes who play a very tough sport, but that doesn’t mean we're also not feminine and feel beautiful [...] I think we also want to make sure that girls know that this is a space to be anything you want to be. If you want to play rugby, you can come as you are.”

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