Olympics Star Ilona Maher Wears Lipstick on Rugby Pitch to Buck Stereotypes That It's a 'Man's Sport'
Ilona Maher, who's partnered with Secret Outlast deodorant, tells PEOPLE about why feeling her best on the field is good for her game. Team USA star Ilona Maher has been known to rock a red lip, both on the field and off. The newly minted bronze medalist, 27, even has her penchant for glam included in her Instagram bio: “Probably wearing lipstick.”
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Rugby has always been thought of as that very masculine sport and stereotype for people who play it and
00:06Myself and all the girls playing sevens and fifteens, I think are really breaking that stereotype
00:10We're wearing makeup because we want to make it, we want to wear it, it makes us feel good
00:15And I think we're showing that it doesn't take away from how we play on the field
00:18So my lipstick doesn't take away from how hard I hit, from how I read the game, from how I run
00:23It's just something that we do to kind of say an F you to those
00:27Standards and what is that thought of us as a man's sport. We went into this tournament
00:33Having heard if you don't get a medal
00:35We might not have a program next year and that stuck with us because we wanted to
00:39We want this program to last and we wanted to make it better for the next young generation that comes in
00:43But then winning a medal, sometimes it doesn't still feel real
00:46But it's like it just feel like my shoulders can relax a little bit
00:49And I think I'll remember like I'll remember Smith, my teammate, running down the field to score that last try and how
00:54I was like we're gonna do this and I can still see your numbers and like knowing that we were doing it