Ilona Delsing Rosa Maher

Ilona Maher is an American rugby union player. As of December 2024, she has signed for Bristol Bears in the Premiership Women's Rugby league and began playing for them in January 2025. She won bronze with the United States in rugby sevens at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Maher took up rugby at age 17, and went on to win three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) championships as a college player at Quinnipiac University. After debuting in 2018, she represented the United States national team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics. She is also known for her body positivity advocacy.

Maher was born on August 12, 1996, in Burlington, Vermont, to Michael and Mieneke Maher. Her mother, a Dutch native, works as a nurse, while her father, who has Irish ancestry, is a dentist and former rugby player who previously played for Saint Michael's College. Maher's older sister, Olivia, is a social media content creator who is known for coining the term "girl dinner" on TikTok. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources

• Ancestry.com. Vermont, U.S., Birth Index, 1981-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. < link > Accessed 24 January 2025.
• Ancestry.com. Vermont, U.S., Birth Records, 1909-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. < link > Accessed 24 January 2025.
• "Births." The Burlington Free Press via Newspapers.com, published 20 August 1996, p. 2B. < link > Accessed 24 January 2025.
• "Ilona Maher." Wikipedia, revision of 16 January 2025. < link > Accessed 24 January 2025.