HOWEVER her rugby match goes, Ilona Maher is certainly in the running for the gold medal in manicures this Olympics.
The 28-year-old Team USA competitor debuted her sporty nail art on TikTok this week — and you can recreate it at home with a seven-piece polish set available on Amazon for only $10.
American rugby player llona Maher made her national debut for the United States at the 2018 HSBC World Sevens Series against Japan also in Paris, France.
In 2021, her social media presence grew with her behind-the-scenes look at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Games.
Now, with over 1.2 million followers on TikTok and almost 700,000 Instagram followers, she is one of Team USA’s most talked about Olympians.
On dozens of occasions, she’s gone viral with funny videos and a body-positive message.
She is currently settling into the Olympic Village as she prepares to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
In a viral TikTok video, she shared the manicure that she plans to rock when she captures the gold.
“When you get your Olympic nails done you know it’s getting real,” the on-screen text read.
“The return of Olympic Ilona! I cannot wait! You were my favorite part of the last summer games!” a TikTok user wrote.
Ilona kept her outfit casual and wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans with her hair slicked back in a low bun.
“Just got my nails done, and I immediately started acting different,” she mouthed along as she goofily wiggled her fingers and made funny faces for the camera.
“Show them OFF Queen,” another viewer commented.
The athlete used her own trending audio in the video, which viewers quickly clocked and praised her for.
“Using your own iconic sound is *chef’s kiss*” one commented.
She had a reason for her specific color choices.
She explained in the caption that she did one hand with Olympic colors and the other with the colors of the American flag.
Recreate Ilona's nail look
First hand – Olympic colors
Pinky: black paint, green star
Ring finger: red paint, black star
Middle finger: blue paint, white star
Pointer finger: green paint, yellow star
Thumb: yellow paint, green star
Second hand – USA colors
Pinky: red paint, blue star
Ring finger: blue paint, white star
Middle finger: white paint, red star
Pointer finger: red paint, blue star
Thumb: blue paint, white star
Her left hand was Olympic-themed with green, yellow, black, and red colors and star nail art in contrasting hues.
The other hand was done similarly but with red, white, and blue polish and contrasting stars.
If you want to recreate the iconic look yourself, there is a gel nail polish set with all the right polish colors for sale on Amazon for $9.99.
It comes with bottles of red, yellow, green, blue, black, white, and gold polish — and the product page has suggestions for some other Olympics-themed art.
Buy it now
*If you click on a link in this article, we may earn affiliate revenue.
Beetles Gel Nail Polish Set, $9.99, Amazon
Glitter Star Nail Stickers, $8.99, Amazon
The e-retailer also has a set of star nail decals that come in red, green, blue, pink, fuchsia, purple, gold, silver, white, and black for $8.99.
The comment section of Ilona’s video was filled with supportive words from fans.
“You go, girl! Can’t wait to see you crush it!” a woman wrote.
“This is the first Olympics since I started getting into rugby, I’m soo excited to see you out there queen,” another said.
“The return of Olympic Ilona! I cannot wait! You were my favorite part of the last summer games!” a viewer added.
