Jason Kelce supports once-bullied star

One of the U.S. Olympians most known for their social media presence is women’s rugby sevens star Ilona Maher. Maher’s social media videos particularly took off around the 2020 Toyko Olympics (actually held in 2021 due to COVID-19), and that’s led to her building up a remarkable following. But it’s also led to criticism and social media bullying for her at times, especially from people saying she looks too masculine or she’s too big. And that criticism has sometimes bothered her a bit, as she discussed in a December 2022 TikTok post:

That 2022 post from TikTok (where Maher has more than 1.8 million followers) got new life this week. That was thanks to the FanGirl Sports Club account on Instagram using it as a the video attached to a post promoting Maher and the women’s rugby team five days ago, and then a number of people passing it around X/Twitter Tuesday as if it was new.

And the message of Maher’s comments there very much remains applicable. And she still gets a lot of the same kind of criticism, and has continued to respond to it. But she seems to have become much less bothered by that talk these days. Here’s a more recent post she shared on her Instagram (where she has more than 1.8 million followers) four days ago, on body positivity and Olympians:

And Maher has attracted a lot of attention and support. She starred in a recent cover shoot for Women’s Health :

And she did an interview with CBS Mornings that aired Monday, about wearing lipstick and makeup on the field:

She’s continued to share the body positivity message, too, taking on critics who tried to troll her with body mass index claims:

And she was a key voice in a USA Today front-page article from Lindsay Schnell on Olympians speaking on body positivity:

But well beyond discussion of appearance, Maher has won fans for her on-field play. She produced one of the most remarkable moments of these Olympics Sunday in a pool play win over Japan, giving an incredible stiff-arm en route to a try:

That got praise from Baltimore Ravens’ RB Derrick Henry:

And Maher also played in the team’s semifinal loss against New Zealand and then last-second bronze-medal victory against Australia, which gave the U.S. their first-ever Olympic medal in women’s rugby after Alex Sedrick’s last-second try and convert:

But beyond the on-field performances, Maher has been winning fans for both her and her sport. And she’s won one very prominent one: NFL center turned ESPN analyst Jason Kelce, who’s in France with his wife Kylie to watch these Olympics. Kelce visited the U.S. team the other day (and arm-wrestled Nicole Heavirland), and Maher posted a video to TikTok and Instagram of trying to recruit him as a superfan for their team:

Well, Kelce was at the women’s gymnastics final rather than the rugby bronze Tuesday. But he did show up in a custom shirt with an American flag pattern covered with pictures of Maher:

So that’s some pretty good support for Maher. It’s notable that the circulation of the 2022 video also saw a lot of support for her from many, including female broadcasters such as Denver Nuggets Altitude reporter/host/analyst Katy Winge:

And as for Maher herself, she has a medal to celebrate, and hope that more will come from it:

And there certainly is more to come, with Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang (who recently announced she’s investing $50 million in funding for research on boosting women’s sports performance) announcing a massive $4 million gift to USA Rugby after the game, part :

So those critics probably aren’t weighing too heavily on Maher’s mind right now.

The post Jason Kelce wore shirt featuring Ilona Maher, U.S. Olympic women’s rugby star once bullied for being ‘too masculine’ appeared first on Awful Announcing .