Olympian Ilona Maher’s Message About Body Positivity to 9-Year-Old Fan Goes Viral (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

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Among her millions of followers is the Sullivan family of Oceanside, Calif.,

Erika Lamotte

In the fall of 2022, Georgia, then just 9 years old, had an incident that led her to be critical of her weight.

“I think [Georgia] had to fill out her weight on a field trip permission slip form. I don’t know if somebody said something or what, but she said ‘I weigh more than all my friends,’ " Ashley recalled her daughter tearfully saying. “As a mom, you never want to see your kids go through anything like that,”

Having followed Maher on social media for a while, Ashley encouraged Georgia to watch some of heridol’s videos.

“I knew she had tons of awesome body positive content and just empowering stuff,” Ashley explained. “So I said, ‘Let’s look at a couple of her videos on Instagram and that might make you feel better.'”

“We watch a few videos and Georgia said, ‘I really do feel better. She is awesome,’ " Ashley recalled. “Any mom of a tween girl knows that you can tell them things a million times but when their role model is saying it, it lands a little differently.”

Ashley DM’d Georgia’s letter to Maher, and to her surprise received an immediate response from the athlete, who said she would be sending a video and swag package to the family.

In thevideo message, Maher said she resonated with Georgia’s letter because that’s what she went through.

“I was always a bigger girl in sixth grade,” Maher explained in the video. “I remember I was 130 pounds and I never understood why am I always bigger than everybody? I didn’t get that, but now I’ve realized this is my body and my body is meant to be big and powerful and strong. And I think that’s the same with you as well.”

“So really recognize that and appreciate it because I’m gonna be honest, Georgia, this is it,” Maher continued. “This is the body you got and this is the body you gotta love. Thank you so much for your support. It means so much to me to see and to know that I may be affecting people in a good way.”

Ashley decided to save the video and package as a Christmas present for Georgia, who says she was stunned when she heard directly from her idol.

“I got a jersey that she had signed and she had worn in a game,” Georgia told PEOPLE while wearing her gift. “And that was so cool to me to think I’m wearing a shirt that she wore while she was playing!”

“All her videos feel like she’s talking straight to you,” Georgia added. “But it felt even better this time because she actually was talking straight to me. And she was talking about how she could relate and how everyone has different body types and how, for my specific position, my body type is perfect.”

Georgia Sullivan meets her idol Ilona Maher.Ashley Sullivan

Ashley Sullivan

Georgia said Maher continues to inspire her since that life-changing letter.

“I pick up traits that she does sometimes,” Georgia explained, “When I’m watching her play, how aggressive she is, that inspires me to be more aggressive and get the ruck faster and make more tackles. She pushes me to do better.”

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Ashley, who coaches at the Club, is thrilled Maher is bringing increased visibility to the sport.

source: people.com