Amy Hunt has spoken out about the Amy Hunt Sydney Sweeney ad controversy, appearing on Good Morning Britain to explain the BBC interview moment that went viral around the world. Hunt, who recently won four gold medals at the European Championships for athletics, addressed the backlash head-on after her now-famous post-race words reached millions of viewers.
The moment that stopped the internet
Hunt had just finished fourth in the women’s 200m final at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest when she delivered an impromptu response to the controversy in a live BBC interview. ‘Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like: 21.4. Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears,’ she said, speaking while still catching her breath after the race.
The clip spread rapidly on Sunday, striking a chord at a moment when Sweeney’s nude advert for sports betting company Novig was already generating fierce debate. The ad, released the previous week, features Sweeney covered only with sports equipment, and drew immediate criticism from many corners of the internet.
According to BBC Sport, the 200m final itself was a historic occasion: American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won the race in the third-fastest time in history. Hunt’s own run was clocked at 22.10 seconds, according to Athletics Weekly, placing her fourth in a final of that calibre. Shericka Jackson collected bronze for Jamaica in 22.18 seconds, per ESPN.
Amy Hunt on the Sydney Sweeney ad and young women in sport
Speaking to Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on Good Morning Britain, Hunt was asked why she thought the Novig advert had caused such a reaction. Her answer focused squarely on the message sport sends to younger generations.
‘I think 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.
Hunt went on to cite a figure that clearly sits at the heart of her thinking on the matter. ‘When we see the stats of 64% of young girls drop out of exercise and sport before they reach the age of 16,’ she said, ‘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 park run with your friends.’
She continued: ‘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.’
The message was a clear expansion of the on-track sentiment she had expressed moments after crossing the line in Budapest, and it landed with an audience well beyond athletics fans.
Sweeney’s response and Novig’s defence
Sweeney has not addressed the backlash directly. The Guardian reported that the Euphoria star did, however, share a series of images on social media showing male and female athletes posing nude for magazine shoots, including Serena Williams, footballer Megan Rapinoe and basketball player Sue Bird.
For its part, Novig has stood firmly behind the campaign. Jacob Fortinsky, founder and chief executive of the company, reportedly said: ‘Sydney is great at captivating audiences and being the centre of attention. In some sense, it forces us into the national discourse.’
The Amy Hunt Sydney Sweeney ad debate shows no sign of fading quickly. Hunt’s voice, delivered mid-breath on a championship track, has become one of the most-shared contributions to a conversation about how women’s bodies are portrayed in sports marketing. Good Morning Britain airs on weekdays at 6am on ITV1.
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