Female athletes have spoken out against a controversial sports gambling advert starring actress Sydney Sweeney.
The advert has gone viral online and features American Sweeney naked but covering parts of her body with various pieces of sporting equipment.
It has sparked a strong reaction, with many female athletes criticising its sexualisation of women in sport, and how they are being defined by their appearance rather than their achievements as sportswomen.
Amy Hunt, who became a four-time European champion earlier this summer, referenced the advert after she ran a season’s best 22.10 seconds to finish fourth in the 200m final at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday.
“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” Hunt said in her post-race interview with BBC Sport.
Referring to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s winning time of 21.47 seconds, the fourth fastest ever over the distance, she added: “21.4. Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears. This is a beautiful evening.”
American actress Sweeney, 29, starred in the television series Euphoria and her films include Anyone But You and The Housemaid.
The backlash has included many other athletes from a range of sports posting videos of themselves competing or training, and describing the frustrations and struggles they have faced throughout their careers.
The trend was started by American gymnast Gracie Kramer, who posted a montage of herself training with the caption, “I don’t know what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what women in sport look like.”
Kramer told BBC World Service’s Newshour she “did not expect” the reaction to her post and “just wanted to uplift women and remind them that you may see these types of ads but remember that this is not the only thing that matters”.
She said it was “so cool” to see “all the incredible athletes hopping on this trend, uplifting themselves, uplifting each other”, adding she was used to getting “very demeaning and objectifying” messages from men because of competing in a leotard as a gymnast.
Kramer added: “Unfortunately being objectified pretty much my entire career, it made me feel strong enough to post about this and to stand up for the women that don’t want to be objectified and don’t want to be looped into this unfortunate narrative that’s been pushed for a long time.”
