American rugby player Ilona Maher hasn’t competed in her event at the Tokyo Olympics yet, but she’s already captured the hearts of millions with her behind-the-scenes TikToks. From inside the Olympic Village, the 24-year-old posts videos about finding love in the athlete’s cafeteria, her obsession with the Team USA tie-dye bucket hat from Ralph Lauren, and what it’s like social distancing from her coach behind a plexiglass window.
During an Olympics already mired in so much controversy—from banning star sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson to outlawing athlete activism—Maher’s TikToks are a bright (and very funny) spot at this year’s Games.
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Her most popular videos are about looking for a “tall, foreign demigod-looking” athlete in the Olympic Village. The Olympic Games are a notoriously horny time in the world of sports: In a 2012 ESPN interview, U.S. target shooter Josh Lakatos said he had “never witnessed so much debauchery” as he did in the Olympic Village, and a reported 450,000 condoms were distributed at the 2016 Rio Games.
Due to COVID-19 concerns, things are much tamer this year. “There’s ’rona, so we do try and stay away from each other,” Maher says in one video.
Still, that hasn’t stopped her from documenting her journey to find love—from a safe distance, of course. “It is not that easy to go up to a pack of 6-foot-7 Romanian volleyball players to shoot my shot, I mean I’ll work on it—but I don’t know if that’s in the cards for me,” she says in this video that has more than 6.7 million views.
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In one video series, Maher and her teammates test out the infamous “anti-sex” cardboard beds (which, it should be noted, an Olympics organizer reportedly claims are a part of Tokyo’s sustainability efforts), proving both the durability of the furniture and their impressive athletic prowess.
Below, more of Maher’s best TikToks:
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Rose Minutaglio
Staff Writer
Rose is a Staff Writer at ELLE covering culture, news, and women’s issues.
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