An advertising campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney has drawn sharp criticism from female athletes who contend it sexualizes women in sports and disrespects their hard work and dedication. The ad, for the sports prediction market platform Novig, depicts Sweeney with minimal clothing, using sports equipment to obscure parts of her body.
Several prominent athletes have voiced their disapproval on social media. Four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ariarne Titmus questioned the ongoing trend of monetizing women's bodies in sports. "How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and sexualizing women’s sport is still a thing?" Titmus wrote on Instagram.
British sprinter Amy Hunt directly addressed Sweeney in a post-race interview, stating, "Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like. Muscles, hard work, sweat, blood, tears." This sentiment was echoed by former U.S. gymnast Gracie Kramer, who described the ad as "infuriating." Kramer lamented that she has "spent [her] entire life competing in a sport where female athletes have been oversexualized, reduced to our bodies, and forced to fight to be taken seriously for what we can actually do." She shared images of female athletes training, captioned, "What a woman in sports looks like."
Rugby player Sofie Fella highlighted the role of female athletes as potential role models for younger generations, emphasizing their ability to transcend societal beauty standards. Fella called Sweeney's ad "so disrespectful to every female athlete in the world."
Novig and a publicist for Sweeney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a subsequent social media post, Sweeney shared covers from ESPN The Magazine’s "Body Issue," an annual feature that celebrated the diversity of athletes' bodies.
Sweeney, a two-time Emmy nominee, has previously starred in and produced a biopic about boxer Christy Martin. Her brand partnerships have occasionally ignited debate; an earlier campaign for American Eagle also generated significant online discussion.