Ilona Maher had more than a bronze medal to celebrate at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During the Tuesday, April 1, episode of her new “House of Maher” podcast — which she hosts alongside her sisters, Olivia and Adrianna Maher — the 28-year-old rugby star shared the inside scoop on life in the Olympic Village and recalled celebrating her birthday during the closing ceremony last summer.
“My birthday is August 12. I’m a Leo — a classic Leo, as they say,” Ilona said, noting that the closing ceremony officially kicked off on August 11 but continued after midnight.
The end of the Olympics was the perfect time for the athletes to cut loose. “You’re not supposed to drink in the village, but we were all getting vodka somehow and bringing it in, like, water bottles,” Ilona recalled. “You’ve just completed the Olympics, you can finally feel like you can relax and reset.”
Ilona Maher welcomes competition, whether it’s on an Olympic field or in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom. During an interview with Us Weekly, the pro rugby player, 28, compared her experience winning a bronze medal for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics to her runner-up finish on DWTS season 33. While she found […]
Ilona remembered “chatting to everybody” as the Olympians made their way to the Stade de France, which was the same stadium where Ilona and her teammates made history by winning the first Olympic medal for the U.S. in women’s rugby.
Athletes from Team United States enjoy the atmosphere during the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 11, 2024 in Paris, France. Steph Chambers/Getty Images
“It was crazy to be back there knowing what happened and the feelings that [went] into it,” she continued. “It struck midnight, so it was my birthday, and I made everybody around me sing. … It was just a really special moment. I was super drunk, but I still remember it.”
Ilona has been “on the go” ever since the Olympics, with her sisters pointing out that she hasn’t spent much time back home in San Diego following her big win. “I had to take my ass on up to L.A. and do Dancing With the Stars,” Ilona teased.
Fans watched Ilona take on a new challenge with pro partner Alan Bersten on DWTS season 33, which aired last fall. The pair finished the competition in second place behind winners Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson.
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While the experience took Ilona out of her comfort zone, she has no regrets, largely due to the “brother-sister” relationship she formed with Bersten, 30.
“It was such a special moment in time, so hopefully I will have a friend for life,” Ilona gushed on the podcast before joking, “I don’t even know if I can watch next season, though. I’ll be so jealous. I’ll be like, ‘That’s my partner.’”
She ended with a playful warning for Bersten, teasing, “If he says that his next partner is his favorite, I’m blocking him on all socials. That’s a threat.”
