Jessica Pegula makes honest revelation about viral Olympic star
Jessica Pegula has revealed that viral Olympic star Ilona Maher is just as charismatic and funny in person as she is in her social medi videos.
Pegula says there was little time to get to meet too many athletes or stars of the Olympics but she did run into a few in the Olympic village.
Following her Cincinnati Open quarterfinals triumph, Pegula spoke with Prakash Amritraj of Tennis Channel about her experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics, revealing that she met American competitors Katie Ledecky, Sha’ Carri Richardson, and Simone Biles in Paris.
She also gave some insight into the character of Maher, the women’s sevens rugby star who became the most-followed player in the sport during the Olympic games thanks to her hilarious videos.
“We did not have time to go see anybody, but, we met a lot of people at the village, Katie Ledecky was super nice. Simone (Biles), Sha’Carri Richardson was really really sweet, super talkative and nice, so, yeah, we got to meet a few athletes,” she said.
“And then people from totally different sports that we had no idea, we met couple of Irish rugby players, women, that was cool. We met Ilona Maher, she was really funny. Like, such a personality, exactly like you seen on her content.”
Pegula voiced her displeasure with her performance in the 2024 Summer Olympics and gave reflections on her experience at the Paris Olympics.
She did, however, also mention how much she had loved spending time in the French capital with her compatriots.
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“Officially sad the Olympics is over. The social media content was unmatched and I want to come back in my next life as a track girl,” she continued.
“I couldn’t perform as I would have liked, but it was fun to spend time with the rest of the team,” Jessica Pegula said. “Everything was chaotic; we went out of the village to have dinner, and we had to walk a lot because the traffic was jammed.”
After competing in the Olympics, Pegula defeated Amanda Anisimova in the final to win the Canadian Open singles championship for the second time in a row. She became the first woman to defend her Canadian Open title since Martina Hingis in 1999 and 2000.
Pegula is a player to watch for the US Open having also battled her way into the last four in Cincinatti.
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