'New low': Zali Steggall weighs in on controversial Sydney Sweeney ad

Former Olympian and Independent MP Zali Steggall has criticised a new sexualised sports betting advertisement featuring American actress Sydney Sweeney as a "new low", amid mounting criticism from sportswomen over its depiction of women in sport.

In her latest controversial ad, Sweeney has sparked uproar after featuring naked in the ad for a sports betting company — in some scenes her private parts covered only by footballs or other sports gear.

"So they wanted to show just sports," she says while sitting topless on a basketball hoop, among other poses.

The ad has sparked a backlash from current and former female athletes around the world, who are outraged over its depiction of women in sport. Some have taken to social media to show "real" women in sport, including Australian water poloist Matilda Kearns.

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Kearns posted a video of her competing in the pool and training at the gym with the caption: "Here's some real women sports content."

Retired Australian swimming champion Arriane Titmus said the ad was "a kick in the face" to women who'd dedicated their life to perfecting their craft.

"I can't describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this," she said in a since-expired social media post.

"How do we live in a world where monetising a woman's body and sexualising women's sport is still a thing? To take the mickey like this, I thought we were genuinely moving past this bullsh-t."

Steggall, Australia's most successful alpine skier, described the gambling ad as "incredibly disappointing and just offensive".

"It uses a woman's body to sell sports betting while reducing women's sport to a sexualised punchline. It's a trope that we need to do away with and it comes from an industry already targetting young men through sports to gamble to ruin their lives."

She said as a young athlete she was often pressured to do sexualised campaigns showing her body in ways that made her uncomfortable, and "really cheapened me as an athlete".

"Female athletes have fought for decades to be recognised for what we are, serious competitive athletes — strong and powerful," the MP for the Sydney seat of Warringah said in a social media post.

Steggall appealed to young girls saying her Olympian's body is strong and powerful and she was proud of what her body was capable of.