The Summer Olympics didn't just put world-class athletes on the radar. For some, it catapulted them into fame.
Bristol Bears rugby player Ilona Maher, for one, won a bronze for Team USA Women’s Rugby before gaining millions of followers online and even competing on Dancing with the Stars.
All the while, Maher promoted an uplifting message around body positivity with her mantra: Beast, Beauty, Brains.
The message resonates with 7-year-old Eva Perez Robbins of Winchester, who considers Ilona her role model.
“She's strong, she's beautiful, and smart, and she just lets women and girls show that they can be strong too,” said Eva.
Eva’s not the only Ilona fan in her family. Her older sister Chloe admires the Olympic athlete too.
The fandom led Chloe to the Bristol Bears website, where she learned that tickets to watch Ilona’s team play weren’t that expensive. In fact, they were so cheap, Chloe felt that she could justify the flight to England.
Taking her little sister Eva under her wing, the duo booked their flight across the pond and saw the Bristol Bears play last week. What’s more, Chloe organized for Eva to participate in a youth program for the day, which included meeting Ilona Maher.
“I got to run them out on the field, watch them do practice, and I got to get a little tour of the place, and I got to meet them all,” said Eva.
You’ve likely heard the advice that you shouldn’t meet your heroes, but in Eva’s case, what you see on screen is what you get with Ilona Maher.
Sporting Ilona’s signature glasses and red lipstick, Eva looked like a miniature Ilona Maher, to which Ilona said, “Are we literally twins?”
Videos of the encounter have gained popularity online, including one photo of Eva looking up to Ilona as they prepare to run onto the field.
"So many people in the comments have said, like, ‘This has healed my inner child in a way I didn't know it would,’ and it's really neat to see this experience that everyone is getting from that…it's been really beautiful,” said Chloe.
With their jerseys signed, the sisters returned home to Kentucky, but not without a new dream.
“My dream is that I am so good at rugby that Ilona buys my jersey,” said Eva.
This story was originally published by Megan Mannering with the Scripps News Group.
