Team USA rugby centre Ilona Maher shared her ‘perfect’ response to TikTok
An Olympic athlete had a pretty incredible response after internet trolls seemed to have major issues with her body.
Team USA rugby star Ilona Maher has unfortunately been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty comments from people online.
However, she wasn’t going to let those keyboard warriors get to her and took to social media to address the whole ordeal.
The 27-year-old Olympian may not have won a gold medal for her achievements on the field yet, but it’s clear she’s won her fans’ hearts with the absolutely ‘perfect’ way she handled the body-shaming situation.
It all started when one person commented: “I bet that person has a 30% BMI [body mass index],” in reference to Ilona.
Since then, the American rugby union player shared her video response starting off: “Hi, thank you for this comment, I think you were trying to roast me. But this actually a fact, I do have a BMI of 30, well 29.3 to be more exact.”
Ilona went on to reveal she has been considered ‘overweight’ throughout her ‘whole life,’ recounting one particularly upsetting incident that took place in high school: “I remember vividly one time in high school, I did turn in the physical to the office and right at the bottom of the page, it said ‘overweight.’
“And I was so embarrassed to turn that in and to have that written there, so my whole life, I’ve been this way.”
She continued: “I chatted with my dietician, because I go off of, you know, facts and not just what, what pops up here, you know, I’m like you do.
“And we talked about BMI and we talked about how it really isn’t helpful for athletes.
“BMI doesn’t tell you much. It just tells you what your height and weight and what that equals.”
The athlete went on to reiterate that she is five foot 10 and weighs 200 pounds and has an ‘estimate’ of 170 pounds of ‘lean mass’ on her.
“Do that math in your head,” she carried on. “You probably can’t. That’s pretty crazy, right?”
Finishing up, Ilona explained: “BMI doesn’t really tell you what I can do.
“It doesn’t tell you what I do in the field, how fit I am. It’s just a couple numbers put together – doesn’t tell you how much muscle I have or anything like that. So yeah, I do have a BMI of 30. I am considered overweight.
“But alas, I’m going to the Olympics and you’re not.”
Iconic.
And it’s clear we’re not the only ones who loved Ilona’s response as one TikTok user praised: “The ease of you roasting and giving straight up facts at the same time is.”
Quoting the athlete, another chirped: “‘BUT ALAS I’M GOING TO THE OLYMPICS AND YOU’RE NOT’ sent me.”
And a final TikTok user gushed: “You are perfect. I love your content, and I can’t wait to cheer you on at the Olympics!”
Us too!
