Amy Hunt: Sprint Star Uses Breakthrough Season to Challenge Barriers Facing Girls in Sport

British sprinter Amy Hunt says she is concerned that a controversial advert starring American actress Sydney Sweeney could become part of a “barrier” to girls’ participation in sport, at a time when leading athletes are seeking to widen access and keep more young women active.

Sprinter speaks out after season’s-best performance

The advert for a sports betting company features Sweeney naked, covering parts of her body with various pieces of sporting equipment. Hunt argues that such imagery risks reinforcing the idea that women’s bodies in sport are to be looked at rather than celebrated for performance.

Her comments came in Budapest, shortly after she produced a season’s best run of 22.10 seconds in the 200m final at the Ultimate Championship on Sunday. Walking off the track, the 24-year-old pointed to her performance as a counter‑image to the advert, saying: “This is what women in sport look like.”

Hunt is among several female athletes who have spoken out against the advert’s messaging, reflecting a broader push by high‑profile competitors to use elite stages to influence how sport is presented and marketed.

Role models, participation and the dropout problem

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Hunt underlined that elite athletes are increasingly judged not only on medals and times but also on the example they set for younger generations.

“When we’re trying to provide role models for young people and young women in sport, we really want to show that it’s about what your body can do, not so much what it looks like,” she said.

She highlighted research showing that 64% of young girls drop out of exercise and sport before they reach the age of 16, framing that trend as a key concern for federations, schools and clubs seeking to widen participation pathways.

“When we see the stats of 64% of young girls dropping out of exercise and sport before they reach the age of 16, we don’t need to place any kind of barrier whatsoever in their way in terms of providing the opportunity and the empowerment for them to still exercise, whatever that looks like – professional or kind of just going to do a Parkrun with your friends,” Hunt said.

She added that the emphasis for girls should be on access and confidence rather than appearance. “So it’s about empowering young girls and young women and young people to show that you really can just get out there, and you don’t have to worry what you look like. You don’t have to worry about what you’re wearing.”

Inside an elite season built on hard training

Hunt’s stance is underpinned by a year in which her performances have matched her public profile. She has enjoyed a breakthrough season, winning four gold medals at the European Championships in Birmingham last month.

Those titles cemented her status as one of Britain’s most promising sprinters and strengthened her case for selection in major championship squads, with national team places typically decided on a combination of qualifying times, championship performances and consistency across the season.

Hunt has also been keen to show that elite sprinting is defined by daily work rather than glamorous imagery. She said “sport is not pretty”, describing how she is often sick during sessions or in tears if training does not go to plan.

That framing aligns with how high‑performance environments are structured: athletes are monitored across training loads, recovery and competition schedules, and selection is influenced far more by those metrics than by commercial appeal. Hunt’s comments effectively draw a line between the realities of that system and the stylised portrayal of athletes in betting and lifestyle campaigns.

Commercial imagery versus sporting regulation

The advert that prompted Hunt’s remarks sits in a commercial space that is only loosely connected to the formal governance of athletics. While the content of such campaigns is overseen primarily by advertising and gambling regulators, the underlying sport is governed by World Athletics, which sets global rules on competition formats, kit regulations and eligibility through its official rulebook and technical regulations.

Hunt’s criticism comes at a time when many federations and event organisers are working to grow women’s sport both on the field of play and in broadcast and sponsorship packages. Her concern is that marketing which leans heavily on sexualised imagery risks cutting across those participation and visibility strategies by sending a conflicting message to young girls about what sport values.

Reaction that ‘almost outweighed the moment’

Hunt said that, in the days since the advert aired, the public conversation has in some ways overtaken the original controversy.

“The reaction has almost outweighed the moment because the first thing I saw was all of the positive compilations of women in sport,” she said, noting that many responses have shared footage of female athletes competing at the highest level.

For Hunt, that shift has at least created an opportunity to foreground the kind of imagery she believes helps keep girls in sport: athletes competing, celebrating and working through the unglamorous side of training.

From track success to broader influence

Hunt’s season‑best 200m in Budapest and her medal sweep in Birmingham have placed her firmly within the group of athletes expected to contend for selection at future global championships. Performance at events on the international circuit is a key factor in whether sprinters are entered into major championships, relays and national team programmes.

At the same time, her willingness to address commercial representation reflects a broader trend in elite sport, where athletes use their competitive platform to shape debates on participation, safeguarding and the culture around young people in sport.

In tying her comments directly to her own performance – “This is what women in sport look like” – Hunt is attempting to recenter the conversation not only on medal-winning bodies, but on the day‑to‑day reality of training, selection and staying in the sport through adolescence. For federations and organisers seeking to reduce the dropout rate among girls, the alignment between what is seen on television, in adverts and on the start line will be central to whether that effort succeeds.