Story summary
Amy Hunt, a British sprinter who won four gold medals at the European Athletics Championships, criticized Sydney Sweeney's ad for Novig as sexualizing women’s sports. During an interview on Good Morning Britain, Hunt emphasized that showcasing what female athletes' bodies can do is more important than their appearance. She noted the high percentage (64%) of young girls dropping out of exercise and sport before age 16, urging to avoid placing barriers in their way.
Sweeney's ad features her partially naked with sports equipment covering parts of her body, which drew strong backlash from female athletes like Ariarne Titmus, Gracie Kramer, and Sofie Fella. These athletes described the advertisement as disrespectful and oversexualizing women’s sport. Hunt addressed Sweeney directly after a race in Budapest, stating "Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like," referring to muscle, hard work, sweat, blood, and tears.
Sweeney responded to the backlash by sharing photos of nude athletes on her Instagram Stories, including Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Megan Rapinoe, Caroline Wozniacki, and Rob Gronkowski. Despite this, critics continued to argue that the ad undermines efforts to empower young girls in sports. Hunt clarified that the criticism was not personal but aimed at the advertisement’s intention of sexualizing women's sport rather than celebrating their athletic achievements.
Written for “Sydney Sweeney Ad Backlash” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 13 other(s) covering the same event.
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.
asserted
who → face → 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”.
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they → view → 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.”
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I → say → this
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.
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who → lead → medals
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.
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women → finish → 21.4
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.
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she → go → realities
“When you’re a woman in sport, it’s not pretty,” she said.
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she → ’re → sport
“It’s not glamorous.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s not sexy all the time, definitely.
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It → ’ → ?
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
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you → turn → what
“Imagine a world where sexualised representation isn’t the most popular way of seeing women in sport,” Capewell said on social media.
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Capewell → imagine → media
In Australia, there was also widespread fury with the four-time Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus leading the charge.
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champion → be → charge
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” she wrote.
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she → describe → this
“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.
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it → dedicate → sports
“How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?”
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monetising → live → sport
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.
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that → take → post
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.
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Sweeney → appear → Williams
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”.
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controversy → work → it
Borkowski said: “Sex still sells.
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Sex → say → ?
And the outrage, the culture war argument gets you one thing: enormous reach.”
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argument → get → thing
He also questioned whether Sweeney, who has starred in several successful TV series and films including Euphoria, The White Lotus and The Housemaid, may one day regret her decision.
uncertain
who → question → decision
“Sweeney will make a lot of money over a short span of time,” Borkowski said.
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Borkowski → make → time
“But often it is about how your brand sustains over the years, not in the first flourish.
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brand → sustain → flourish
And this sort of promotion can come back to haunt people.”
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sort → come → people
The advert has been defended by Jacob Fortinsky, the founder and chief executive of Novig, which launched last month.
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which → defend → Novig
“Sydney is great at captivating audiences and being the centre of attention,” he said.
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he → captivate → attention
“In some sense, it forces us into the national discourse.”
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it → force → discourse
Fortinsky also pushed back against criticisms of the adult nature of the content, pointing out that Novig is restricted to users aged 21 and older.
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Novig → push → users
He added that Sweeney had approached the company about an equity partnership and helped to craft its message.
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Sweeney → add → message
This is not the first time an advert featuring Sweeney has attracted controversy.
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advert → feature → controversy
Last year American Eagle’s “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” campaign used a play on “jeans” and “genes”, including references to the blue-eyed actor’s inherited traits, sparked a culture war, with some saying it invoked eugenics.
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it → use → eugenics
Several months after the controversy erupted, Sweeney said she had been unaware of it as she had been filming Euphoria.
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she → erupt → Euphoria
“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together,” she said.
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she → know → people
“I’m against hate and divisiveness.”
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I → ’m → hate
The Aporia
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