‘Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like’: female athletes spark backlash against viral advert

The US actor Sydney Sweeney is facing a backlash from female Olympians and other athletes, who have accused her of demeaning and sexualising women’s sports by appearing in a controversial advert for a sports prediction company.

In the viral commercial for Novig, which was viewed more than 22 million times in the first two days of its release, Sweeney’s nude body is covered by footballs, basketballs, and other sports equipment, as she tells users they can bet on “just sports”. After saying “sports” nine times, she appears topless on a pool table, before saying: “You can’t trade this, I just look good here.”

The advert has led to a storm of protest led by the British sprinter Amy Hunt, who won four European championship gold medals last month. After finishing fourth in the 200m at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship on Sunday evening, Hunt said: “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like: 21.4. Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears. This is a beautiful evening.”

That was a reference to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s winning time of 21.47 seconds, the fourth-fastest women’s 200m, and Hunt went on to reveal the painful realities she and other sports stars faced. “When you’re a woman in sport, it’s not pretty,” she said. “It’s not glamorous. It’s not sexy all the time, definitely.

“There’s some low moments. Even turning up to this championship, my period started yesterday, so that’s not really ideal, and that’s not ever what you try to really plan for.”

The British Olympic cycling gold medallist Sophie Capewell was also deeply critical of the advert. “Imagine a world where sexualised representation isn’t the most popular way of seeing women in sport,” Capewell said on social media.

In Australia, there was also widespread fury with the four-time Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus leading the charge. “I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” she wrote. “Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is – teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity.

“How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?”

Hundreds of athletes took inspiration from the American gymnast Gracie Kramer, who posted footage of her competing under the message “this is what a woman in sport looks like” on an Instagram post that was liked more than a million times.

Sweeney appeared to respond to the criticism by posting a series of images of prominent female and male athletes posing naked for magazine shoots, including Serena Williams and the footballer Megan Rapinoe and the basketball player Sue Bird.

The public relationship consultant Mark Borkowski, who has worked with everyone from Mikhail Gorbachev to Diego Maradona, said he felt the advert was “cynical soft porn”, but that the controversy would benefit Novig “given the number of eyeballs on it”.

Borkowski said: “Sex still sells.