Ilona Maher takes a stand against body shaming backlash
Ilona Maher, a rugby player from the USA, won a bronze medal with her team at the Olympics in Paris. Under one of her Instagram posts, a comment criticizing her weight appeared. The internet user quickly got a response.
1 August 2024 09:27
Ilona Maher has been encouraging her fans to accept their bodies for years. So it's no surprise that she decided to react when one of the internet users pointed out her obesity. The rugby player pointed out a specific detail.
An internet user criticized her appearance. She responded
Many people feel invincible on the internet. They also have no qualms about writing something mean under someone's post. Ilona Maher experienced this recently - an internet user criticized her size. The rugby player did not leave this jab unanswered.
"I think you were trying to roast me, but this actually is a fact. I do have a BMI of 30 — well, 29.3 to be more exact," said the athlete.
BMI is a body mass index calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in square meters. It is worth noting that people with a BMI below 18.5 are underweight. Conversely, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered average weight. Any value above that is considered overweight.
This issue was also commented on by satirist and cartoonist Ahmed Goldstein.
Rugby player versus BMI
The rugby player used the negative comment to draw her fans' attention to the fact that the BMI index does not apply well to athletes. After all, it does not account for muscle mass, bone density, or even overall body composition.
"BMI doesn't really tell you what I can do. I doesn't tell you what I do on the field, it doesn't tell you how fit I am, it's just a couple numbers put together—it doesn't tell you how much muscle I have, or anything like that," she emphasized.
