'This is what women in sport look like' - Hunt leads response to Sweeney advert

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'Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like!' - Hunt on controversial ad

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 show 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."

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Why is this Sydney Sweeney advert so controversial?

Australia's four-time Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus said: "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.

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

British cyclist and Olympic champion Sophie Capewell MBE, rugby players Lisa Neumann and Ellie Boatman and Australian water polo Olympian Tilly Kearns also shared their stories.

"I think it's quite powerful, the amount of women who've come out and said something," Capewell told BBC Sport after her post gained attention.

"It's giving a very specific picture of women around sport and I think that's the challenging thing. Why is that the face of the campaign that is associated with sport?

"And that's the way you want to portray a woman, instead of it having, I don't know, an athlete or anything else that's more sport-centric?

"It's not necessarily that people are upset with someone having autonomy, it's the fact that that seems to be the only narrative that is directed around women in sports, or that's what gets more popularity."

England women's rugby player Alex Matthews said adverts like Sweeney's should not make young women believe there is a "one size fits all" body.

"You don't get that idolised perfect body," she told BBC Sport. "Especially in rugby - you wouldn't have a team.

"Every body type has a strength."

Matthews, who represented Great Britain in rugby sevens at Tokyo 2020, said one of "most inspiring" things about being in the Olympic village was seeing "the older generations, the younger generations, the taller people, the you know slightly bigger people, but they were all the best at what they did".

Image source, NovigImage caption, The advert features Sydney Sweeney naked but covering parts of her body with various pieces of sporting equipment

Sweeney has not commented in response but she took to social media to post a range of photos of other athletes posing naked or in limited clothing, appearing to suggest hypocrisy.

The photos were a series of ESPN covers featuring the likes of tennis star Serena Williams and MMA fighter and wrestler Ronda Rousey, alongside male athletes including NFL player Myles Garrett and basketball player Karl-Anthony Towns.

Sweeney was involved in another controversial advert last year, promoting jeans for American Eagle which featured the slogan "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans".

This also received pushback from some on social media, with criticism surrounding the play on the words "jeans" and "genes" which sparked a debate over race and beauty standards.

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