Olympic athlete Ilona Maher gives insight into dating at the 2024 Paris Games

The 2024 competing Olympic athletes are not only vying for the top titles in their sport, but each other’s attention, too.

As team members from around the world gather in Paris ahead of the July 26 opening ceremony, anticipation and rivalry are ramping up. Yet, the City of Light is also rife with romantic interest among competitors – at least it is according to Ilona Maher.

On July 22, the Team USA rugby sevens player took to her TikTok account, giving insight into the dating scene from the Olympic headquarters in Paris. Sat next to her 29-year-old teammate Naya Tapper, Maher revealed the not-so-subtle way Tapper scored another athlete’s contact.

Riffing off the internet’s recent obsession with the reality dating show Love Island, Maher said: “Hey guys, there’s already success in the villa.”

She continued: “Naya got a number.” The two female competitors were filmed side-by-side in what appeared to be a cafeteria in the Olympic Village. Maher pointed to Tapper, who exhibited a wide-eyed, almost frightened expression. Tapper quickly clarified she did not get any digits, just their social media account.

“Well, she got an Insta,” Maher admitted. “She just stared this dude down. He stared at her. Then, he came over here.”

Maher giggled as she encouraged others to follow suit with strong “eye contact” when trying to attract the attention of potential love interests. “The power she has,” Maher added. “Power. Feminine wiles over here she’s using.”

While Taper’s advances were face-to-face (or more specifically, eye-to-eye), the dating culture during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was mostly online. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the games in Tokyo abided by major restrictions, only welcoming athletes to attend and stay inside Olympic Village.

One journalist for Vice confirmed that Olympic athletes in Tokyo were primarily on dating apps during the delayed summer 2021 games.

“I was surprised to find just how many Olympic-related people there were on the apps. There were engineers, volunteers, journalists, athletes, and technicians, all for the Tokyo Games,” Hanako Montgomery, a reporter based in Japan, wrote in an article published July 30, 2021.

She continued: “Can Akkuzu, a French table tennis player, said he was using the app to ‘meet new people from the village, see how it goes,’ he told me.”

This year, of course, athletes might pursue romantic relationships in-person or over dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, which generate suggestions based on the profiles within proximity. However, Gen Z Olympic athletes may be following suit with the recent drop in dating app usage. According to the 2023 Statista Survey, Gen Z only makes up 26 percent of dating app users, while individuals aged 30 to 49 make up 61 percent. Findings from Hinge’s 2024 Data, Advice, Trends, and Expertise report, suggest Gen Z is apprehensive to pursue relationships due to fear of rejection.