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Olympic Athlete Ilona Maher On What She Tells Herself When She Doesn’t Feel Confident About Her Body: Watch the Video
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Olympic Athlete Ilona Maher On What She Tells Herself When She Doesn’t Feel Confident About Her Body: Watch the Video

Ilona Maher opens up about what she does when she doesn’t feel good about her body.

The Olympic bronze medalist, who is currently competing on ‘Dancing with the Stars’, shared a vulnerable TikTok video over the weekend in which she opened up about not feeling ‘confident’ about her body.

“I really want to keep this honest with you guys, so I wanted to let you know that I’m not feeling very confident in my body right now,” she began. “But that’s okay, that’s okay — and I know you’re all going to reach out to me.”

Ilona Maher is seen in this screenshot from a video she shared on TikTok.

@ilonamaher/TikTok

“But remember, the mind plays tricks,” she continued. “It tells you different things. So I think I’m making this video more to help myself, and if it helps you, all the better, a win.”

Maher said it’s normal to “not always love your body and think it’s so great,” and she said it’s something she struggles with from time to time. However, she said she reminds herself of three things when she gets into that frame of mind.

“I try to remember what my body does for me, how strong it is,” she said. “How strong it is, whether I’m going to walk or run, I’m going to lift weights, I’m going to dance.”

The second thing she tells herself is that bodies are constantly changing and “will be constantly changing for the rest of our lives.”

“It doesn’t matter if we’re in a different part of our cycle, if we’re eating more or less, or exercising more. I don’t exercise as much as I normally do, and so my body changes a little bit,” she added.

Watch rugby star Ilona Maher get vulnerable about her body positivity

The Olympic bronze medalist shared on TikTok what she does when she’s not feeling well.

The last thing she tells herself is to “give yourself some grace,” which she says isn’t always easy.

“I think it’s hard for me this time,” she said. “My whole training schedule is not good. I’m just dancing and not running, you know, 500,000 meters a day.”

Maher concluded her video with a message to her followers: “Take a breath, remind yourself that you are beautiful, it’s okay if you’re going through this.”

“It’s going to be ups and downs for the rest of your life,” she added. “I love you, and thank you for all loving me.”

Ilona Maher is seen in this screenshot from a video she shared on TikTok.

@ilonamaher/TikTok

Ahead of her “Dancing with the Stars” debut, Maher, who helped the U.S. women’s rugby team win a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and was also the digital cover star for the 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, told “Good Morning America” that she wants to show people that rugby stars are multi-dimensional.

“We’re on the field and we’re animals, but I can be a beauty, I can dance and do all those things,” said Maher, who added that she wants to continue her message of body appreciation during her “Dancing with the Stars” journey.

“My new goal is to show that all body types can dance and express themselves through dance and that you can feel sexy and beautiful when you’re on the dance floor,” she added.