Women’s Rugby Athlete Ilona Maher Jokingly Turns Olympic Village Into ‘Love Island’

Women’s rugby athlete Ilona Maher got a text that the Olympic Village is full of eligible singles and she’s determined to find her match.

“I cannot wait to get into the Olympic villa. It’s gonna be a crazy summer,” Maher, 27, said in a TikTok video, parodying Love Island contestant introductions on the reality TV show. “Honestly, I’m probably the fittest bird in there.”

After an off-camera friend corrected Maher that their fellow athletes live in the Olympic Village and not the Love Island villa, she reluctantly agreed.

“I guess, if we wanna say that, but I still am gonna try to couple up early on,” Maher joked. “It is early days, but I am there to find love.”

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Maher is gearing up to compete in her second Olympics with Team USA women’s rugby team. The Games officially kick off Friday, July 26, in Paris.

“Hey guys, already [found] success in the villa! Naya [Tapper] got a number, well, she got an Instagram,” Maher quipped of her team captain in a Tuesday, July 23, video update. “She just stared this dude down [and] he stared at her, then he came over here! The power she has. Feminine wiles over here she’s using.”

Maher captioned her post, “Teach me your ways.”

The next day, Maher put Tapper’s tricks into action while grabbing lunch in the Village’s cafeteria.

“A man just talked to me,” she quipped in a Wednesday, July 24, video. “He asked if I could move forward in line because I was holding everyone up. I don’t know, I think our wedding colors will be, like, a forest green or something.”

While Maher has yet to have any romantic luck in the villa, she’s more than ready to fare better on the rugby field.

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“I thank my family a lot and those who have supported me but I also want to thank ‘younger me’ who got me to this point,” she wrote via Instagram earlier this week, reflecting on her athletic journey to the Games. “‘Younger me’ played all the sports and worked to succeed in whatever she tried. She pitched fast, ran hard, and played like she had something to prove. She never let those around her stop her from wanting to be physical and dominant.”

Maher continued, “She was told to slow it down, not throw as hard, and not take up too much space. She was judged for her body type and called masculine. Looked at for her broad shoulders and powerful frame but she never let those stop her from being great. Sports took a big girl from Vermont and gave her a place. Gave her body a purpose. I’m proud of my high school self for deciding to try out rugby and then taking a chance on playing it in college.”

Maher further noted at the time that her younger self got the present-day version to a second Olympics “because she never quit.”

Love Island USA, meanwhile, recently wrapped after a record-breaking season on Peacock with Kordell Beckham and Serena Page taking home the cash prize. The British version of the reality series is still airing on ITV.