“I never felt like a man.” rugby player Ilona Maher shakes the codes of femininity on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Toned biceps, toned thighs, toned abs… Ilona Maher flaunts her muscles on the cover of the magazine’s annual issue.Sports Illustrated Swimsuit dedicated to swimwear. “Beast. Beauty. Brains,” we can read above the cover, referring to the slogan of the Olympic rugby player who supports the idea that women can be strong, beautiful and smart at the same time.

In a series of photos published in this September digital issue, the 28-year-old reveals her athletic figure in all its glory, sometimes in a bikini, sometimes in a bikini. half naked. As criticism of her physical appearance, she has been targeted since the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Online harassment

Indeed, in recent weeks, she who led Team USA to its first bronze medal in the rugby sevens event at the Paris Olympics, has faced a barrage of body-shaming comments. While he assures that those words do not “bother” him personally, he nevertheless admits that he is worried about what they can provoke in the women and young girls who read them, reports the article. Sports Illustrated. That’s why the world’s most-followed rugby personality on social media (over 3.8 million followers on Instagram and 2.3 million specifically on TikTok) used his platform to promote self-acceptance and spread a “body positive” message. .

She also doesn’t hesitate to publicly condemn her detractors, like last July on Tiktok when she responded to a netizen who took the liberty of calculating her BMI, implying that she’s not healthy. “I have a BMI of 30. Well, 29.3 to be exact,” he smiled into the camera. And to counter. “I am considered overweight. But I’m going to the Olympics and you’re not.” in an interview with Sports Illustratedthe athlete states that his athletic prowess invalidates these types of baseless claims about his weight. “If my cellulite was less and perfect, I wouldn’t be doing what I can do. I wouldn’t be powerful enough for that [donc] I really think that sports have been very useful to me,” he adds.

Restore your body

If she looks so confident in these photos, however, the article notes that Ilona Maher had a hard time accepting her “tall height,” “broad shoulders,” and “muscular build” at a young age. She credits the sport with allowing her to love her body for who it is and see what it can accomplish rather than what it might look like. “I was always called masculine or something like that. But I never felt that way,” he admits in this interview. “I like the fact that [le rugby] showed me what I could do. He showed me how capable my body was and that it wasn’t just a tool to be looked at and objectified.”

“Pioneer of Feminism”

The magazine’s editor-in-chief, MJ Day, explained that this editorial choice, “more than a simple celebration” of Ilona’s sporting exploits, confirmed a “powerful bias”. “Ilona’s presence on our cover symbolizes a shift in narrative that celebrates not only physical prowess, but also the courage to lead, inspire and advocate for change.” And to congratulate himself. “We couldn’t be more excited and inspired by this revolutionary athlete and pioneer of feminism.”