Ilona Maher Kicks Off 2026 With a Major Flex in the Gym

Fans are gushing over the Olympic rugby player’s latest Instagram post, where she showed off her sensational strength.

Ilona Maher / Karl Bridgeman - World Rugby/World Rugby/Getty Images

On Jan. 3, Ilona Maher told her 5.4 million Instagram followers that she’s planning to “continue getting hotter, funnier and sassier” in the new year; and while we’re only six days in, the Olympic rugby player is already delivering on her claim.

Roughly 48 hours after her declaration, Maher took to the same social media app to showcase her strength in a brief reel. In an all-black ensemble featuring a solid-colored sports bra and leggings, she exhibited her sculpted figure while hard at work in the gym.

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“POV people recognize you from behind because of your shoulders/back,” the reel’s on-screen text read as Maher lip synced the words to Megan Thee Stallion and Flo Milli’s 2024 song, “Roc Steady.”

The elite athlete—who took home a bronze medal during the 2024 Paris Games with the U.S. women’s rugby team—mouthed, “Rock, rock steady. You can tell who I am from the back ‘cause it’s heavy,” before turning around to display her defined back muscles. “I’ve had people not even see my face and know it’s me,” she wrote as the post's caption.

Fans on the app swooned over Maher’s latest clip, and rushed to the comments to show the 29-year-old New England native some love.

“One could say....she’s bringing sexy back...” one commenter quipped.

“Iconic 💪,” Adidas Rugby chimed in.

“Such a slay,” another fan penned.

And while Maher did mention some of the goals on her 2026 itinerary in the Jan. 3 post, don't be fooled. The Dancing with the Stars Season 33 runner-up is not a fan of New Year’s resolutions—she declared as much on the most-recent episode of her podcast, House of Maher, which was released one day prior on Jan. 2.

In an interview with Maia and Alex Shibutani, the eldest Maher sister, Olivia, stated that the rugby star “doesn’t believe” in the concept, and Ilona elaborated on her mentality when it comes to goal-setting during the first month of the year.

She stated, “I always put, kind of, out there things, like, ‘enjoy the moment more, be more present,’ but I’m never, ‘This what I’m gonna do this year,’ ‘cause if it doesn’t happen, I will feel like a failure, but it’s life.”

Ilona also humerously recalled a moment where she did outline an objective at the start of the new year, which unfortunately backfired. The athlete added, “One time, before the Tokyo Olympics, I wrote in my New Year’s goals, ‘Go to the Tokyo Olympics’. And then, guess what happened? COVID. So now I don’t write goals anymore.”

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