Olympic rugby player's badass response to body-shaming comment is absolute confidence goals

It is one thing to be body shamed, but to face berating comments about being overweight despite being a successful athlete can be quite frustrating. Now that the Olympics season is in full swing, many participating athletes are chronicling their Paris 2024 Olympics journey online. One of them is Ilona Maher, a USA Women's Rugby Team player, who participated in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has recently made her country proud as a Bronze medalist in the Paris Games, as per Team USA.  Earlier this July, Maher–who goes by @ilonamaher on TikTok–went viral when she made a video in response to a fat-shaming comment and it was both witty and savage.

The video showcased the condescending comment from a TikTok user that read, "I bet that person has a 30% BMI." Maher began her response by saying that though the comment was meant to "roast" her, it actually stated a fact. "I do have a BMI of 30. Well, 29.3 to be exact," she shared. The sportswoman candidly added that she was, indeed, considered "overweight" her whole life. She then shared an instance from high school where she had to turn in her sports physical form to the office and the bottom of the form said, "Overweight." Maher admitted that she had been embarrassed to turn her form in.

Maher proceeded to talk some sense into such body-shaming bullies on how BMI doesn't measure how fit a person is. The Olympic champion sarcastically quipped that she went by facts and not by whatever popped up in her mind and referenced what she'd learned from her dietician. "We talked about BMI. 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 are and what that equals," she explained. Highlighting that she was 5'10" and weighed 200 pounds, Maher said that she had about 179 pounds of lean body mass, indicating how the fat content in her body was significantly low.

"Do that math in your head, but you probably can't," said Maher in a snarky tone. "That's pretty crazy, right? That BMI doesn't really tell you what I can do. It doesn't tell you what I do on the field or how fit I am. It's just a couple of numbers put together. It doesn't tell you how much muscle I have or anything like that," the sportswoman explained. She finished her response with a snide remark. "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," Maher said. This confidence is what every person being body-shamed needs. 

The video garnered over six million views in 20 days and people cheered on the Olympic champion for shutting down the bully. "I would follow you into battle. Not just cause of your insane athleticism, but because of your honesty and charisma to allow people to see fitness differently," said @anansloan0. "Thank you so much for your message. You are helping young female athletes by sharing experiences like this. You are inspiring," lauded @madav1492. "Those scales that say what you're 'supposed' to weigh mean nothing. You're an incredible athlete and that's the only fact," added @namedrahb.

You can follow Ilona Maher (@ilonamaher) on TikTok for more sports content.