Thu, September 17, 2026
Sydney Sweeney betting advert prompts discussion over women’s sport
Alexis Ohanian, founder of ATHLOS, has commented on the controversy surrounding actress Sydney Sweeney’s recent advertisement for sports betting company Novig, which has prompted debate over the portrayal of women and athletes. The advertisement features Sweeney nude, with the campaign drawing criticism from some people who argued that it sexualised women rather than focusing on athletic ability.
ATHLOS, a major all-female track and field event, is making its London debut on Friday, 18 September. The event will feature Britain’s 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodkingson, and America’s three-time Olympic gold medallist, Gabby Thomas, for example, among other top stars, with a prize fund around £750,000.
Although it stands as its own separate independent track and field event, ATHLOS follows the World Athletics Ultimate Championship which debuted in Budapest last week. All three sessions sold out, with winners being awarded $150,000 each. According to The Independent, Ohanian is “working with World Athletics to better integrate ATHLOS into the season and expand into a league format.”
Ohanian has also commented on Sweeney after she posted covers of semi-nude athletes, including 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, who is also Ohanian’s wife.
The images were shared after criticism of Sweeney’s betting advertisement, with discussion subsequently emerging around the distinction between athletes choosing to appear nude and the use of nudity in advertising.
Ohanian voiced that “It hits this nerve where it feels like such a step back in light of all the progress women’s sports has been making.”
He told The Guardian: “It’s the false equivalence that I really support our athletes calling out about. The irony is my feed, at least, has been full of women athletes showing off, doing great women athlete stuff, which is awesome…
And, you know, them deciding to do an ESPN Body Issue is very obviously different from an actress just being naked for a commercial…
These are professional athletes who have devoted decades of their life towards a physical goal and their body is their résumé. So I have no problem understanding why it is totally OK for an athlete, man or woman, to pose naked tastefully. They are physically fit and showing it off because they grinded in the gym every morning to play football, ski, or whatever the hell they do.”
In relation to track, Ohanian told The Guardian: “You can’t go anywhere without seeing joggers, runners and run clubs,” London is a hotbed for it; the US, too. It is such an accessible sport. So why can’t it be a hundred times more popular? Or even a thousand times more popular?”
In reference to Serena Williams, Ohanian also stated that women’s sport will grow tremendously over the years following an increase in money and standards: “Women’s tennis is an example of this because you can see the impact Serena and Venus made, where a decade later, the entire nature of women’s tennis looks very different. Consciousness is warped by, or moulded by, excellence.”
Ohanian also set up Angel City FC, a Los Angeles professional women’s soccer team in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Having invested $7m, the club is now reportedly worth $350m. He also has a minority stake in Chelsea Women.
Ohanian also does not seem to express reservations even though Michael Johnson’s independent Grand Slam Track event entered bankruptcy, stating that ATHLOS’ first race already saw 3.25 million people tuning in, and that he has also managed to onboard brands like Tiffany “who are not from this world.”
