Sydney Sweeney’s cartoonish provocation has sparked a culture war but let’s just admit sport can be sexy | Emma John
Yes sport is about effort, sweat and inclusivity – but it also turns elite athletes into magnificent specimens of humanity where the aesthetic is part of the appeal Have you seen the 40-second video that will change the way you think about women’s sport, women’s bodies, just, you know, women? It’s been unavoidable on social media this week – brazen, unapologetic, dominating the algorithm like an AI kitten hacking a banana-bread recipe while lip-syncing to Cardi B.
I for one have enjoyed it at least 50 times already. It starts with some carefully curated passive-aggression – “Dear Sydney”, “Hey Sydney”, “Respectfully Sydney” – and follows up with clips of what, in its own words, “a woman in sport actually looks like”. It shows its subject pounding the treadmill or powering down the back straight, flooring a rival with a tackle or a roundhouse kick, lifting weights or throwing herself through the air. It is, inevitably, soundtracked by Dua Lipa.
Training Season is getting a serious bump this week.
Read in depth: Sports
Manchester United move closer to sacking Michael Carrick as review reaches decision point
Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada are expected to recommend Carrick’s dismissal after a three-game review, but Manchester United have not made a final decision.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman backs 24-team playoff
The College Football Playoff is set to expand from 12 teams to 24 in 2027. Freeman says the wider field gives Notre Dame more chances to qualify, including after a defeat.
What this story rests on
1 source from 1 organisation: 1 newspaper or magazine.
- 1The GuardianThe Guardian · theguardian.comNewspaper or magazine
Source headline and summary supplied via NewsData.io. First collected by NewsJaws on 2026-09-18. This is an automated news brief, not original NewsJaws reporting. Dates reflect the source publication. Feed delays may apply.
Researched and drafted with AI tools from these sources, then checked against them paragraph by paragraph before publication. How we work · Everyone we cite · Report an error