Afrigather 2024 Olympics: Tom Cruise, Billie Eilish & Extra Stars Who Rocked the Closing Ceremony in Paris & LA!
Ilona Maher is dominating her area.
And we aren’t simply speaking concerning the rugby pitch. As a result of whereas the 28-year-old—who celebrated her birthday Aug. 12—has already confirmed to be a star participant (we’ll let her efficiency on the 2024 Olympics and bronze medal converse for themselves) she’s additionally a star on social media.
However don’t take our phrase for it. Simply ask Maher’s 2.3 million followers on TikTok. At this yr’s Video games in Paris, she’s received the gold in followers’ hearts by sharing all the things from her “Olympic Match Test” and takes on the cardboard beds to her new enthusiasm for handball and experiences on the Olympic Village—or the “Olympic Villa,” as she referred to as it, à la Love Island.
And alongside the way in which, Maher met a number of different huge names—posing for pics with Snoop Dogg and Katie Ledecky, joking about “making an attempt to narrate” to Coco Gauff by telling the tennis star how she as soon as performed pickleball and formally turning Jason Kelce right into a girls’s rugby fan.
“Do you get something from being our tremendous fan? No,” she advised the previous Philadelphia Eagles participant in a July 28 video. “There’s no cash, no advantages. I don’t assume I may even offer you free stuff.”
Along with championing her sport, Maher is a champion for celebrating all our bodies.
“Because the Olympics formally begin at the moment, I need you all to try all of the completely different physique sorts on show,” she mentioned in a July 26 video forward of the Opening Ceremony. “All physique sorts matter. All physique sorts are worthy, from the smallest gymnast to the tallest volleyball participant, from a rugby participant to a shot-putter to a sprinter. All physique sorts are stunning, can do wonderful issues. So really see your self in these athletes and know that you are able to do it, too.”
Kevin Mazur/Getty Photos for TIME
And the athlete hopes she will be able to proceed to deal with stereotypes and empower others.
“I believe there has all the time been a divide,” she advised CBS Mornings in an interview that aired July 29. “Folks believing that, oh, once you play sports activities, if you happen to’re an athlete, you may’t be female. I really feel that I is usually a beast and may play this very bodily, aggressive sport whereas additionally protecting my femininity whereas I do it.”
“Folks would all the time name me masculine, and I didn’t perceive that,” she added. “However now, I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s a goal right here for it.’ I can stiff-arm, and I can fend, and I can rise up and deal with as arduous as I can. And that’s why I need different girls to even simply get within the fitness center and raise weights. Like, see what your physique can do. Get to some extent the place you are able to do a pull-up. ‘Oh, man! I’m so highly effective. I can do that.’ I simply assume it gave me a brand new perspective on my physique.”
For her birthday this yr, Maher advised her followers to maintain the celebrations low-key.
“Hey guys, it’s my birthday tomorrow,” she mentioned in an Aug. 11 Instagram Tales video. “You don’t must make it a giant deal. Like, you don’t must do something particular. Identical to some truffles, balloons, confetti. Like, a giant rager. However apart from that, tremendous chill.”
You already know, like kicking off the festivities by attending the Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony. Posting a video of her and her fellow Staff USA members rocking their uniforms and counting all the way down to her birthday, Maher captioned the clip, “HBD to me.”
To see extra pictures from the Closing Ceremony, hold studying.
(E! and NBC are each a part of the NBCUniversal household).
This story was initially revealed July 30, 2024 at 1:37 p.m. PST.
Richard Pelham/Getty Photos
Zaho de Sagazan
The singer-songwriter kicked off the closing ceremony with a efficiency of “Sous le Ciel de Paris.”
Maja Hitij/Getty Photos
Leon Marchand
Staff France’s star swimmer carried the torch from Paris’ Jardin des Tuileries to the Stade de France for the Closing Ceremony.
Arturo Holmes/Getty Photos
Nick Mead & Katie Ledecky
The gold medal-winning rower and the swimmer, who added 4 medals together with two gold to her ever-growing listing of Olympic accolades, served as Staff USA’s flag bearers.
Luke Hales/Getty Photos
Tara Davis-Woodhall & Trinity Rodman
The gold medalists—Davis-Woodhall for lengthy soar and Rodman for soccer—stroll into the Stade de France alongside Staff USA.
Jamie Squire/Getty Photos
Tigst Assefa, Sifan Hassan & Hellen Obiri
The medal ceremony for the ultimate monitor and area occasion of the 2024 Olympics, the ladies’s marathon, occurred on the Closing Ceremony, with Staff Netherlands’ Hassan profitable gold, whereas Assefa of Staff Ethiopia took dwelling silver and Staff Kenya runner Hellen Obiri received bronze.
Jamie Squire/Getty Photos
Golden Voyager
A Golden Voyager descents into the Stade de France throughout the Closing Ceremony.
Steph Chambers/Getty Photos
Alain Roche
The Suiss Pianist performed “Hymn to Apollo” whereas suspended into the air on the Stade de France.
Arturo Holmes/Getty Photos
Stade de France
The pyrotechnics show contained in the Stade de France after the meeting of the Olympic rings.
Carl Recine/Getty Photos
Phoenix
The French indie rock band serenaded the Olympians with hits like “1901” and “Lisztomania”
Joris Verwijst/BSR Company/Getty Photos
Simone Biles & Karen Bass
The gymnastics star had a particular position throughout the Closing Ceremony, becoming a member of the Los Angeles mayor to welcome the Video games to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics.
Fabrizio Bensch- Pool/Getty Photos
Tom Cruise
The Mission: Not possible star introduced his stunt A-Recreation to the Closing Ceremony as he dropped into the Stade de France from the open roof.
Jamie Squire/Getty Photos
Tom Cruise
However a freefall into the stadium wasn’t his solely stunt as Simone and Karen handed him the Olympic flag to ship to Los Angeles.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Photos for LA28
Purple Scorching Chili Peppers
Because the Olympic flag touched down in the usA., the rock group kicked off a trio of performances in Venice Seaside.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Photos for LA28
Finneas & Billie Eilish
The siblings and longtime collaborators carried out her hit “Birds of a Feather” as a part of the Venice Seaside live performance welcoming the Olympics to Los Angeles in 2028.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Photos for LA28
Snoop Dogg
The 2024 Olympics Particular Correspondent took on a second position throughout—rounding out the LA28 handoff.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Photos
Yseult
The French singer-songwriter carried out the Frank Sinatra hit “My Method” to formally finish the Closing Ceremony.
Michael Reaves/Getty Photos
Stade de France
The 2024 Olympics formally concluded with a blinding mild present that lit up the Parisian sky.
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