Athlos founder Alexis Ohanian has criticised Sydney Sweeney's "frustrating" sports betting advert for taking attention away from "actual women athletes," but welcomed the backlash from those he says have been able to "hijack this troll."
Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder who has invested heavily in women's sport, was speaking to ESPN ahead of the London debut of the female-only track and field competition Athlos, which takes place this Friday.
The timing of the event could hardly be more pertinent after the backlash to Sweeney's controversial nude ad for sports prediction market Novig, with athletes including British sprinter Amy Hunt hitting out at the campaign and using it as a launchpad to celebrate women in sport -- a cause also central to Athlos.
Ohanian, whose wife -- tennis great Serena Williams -- has also been drawn into the debate, said he was "happy athletes are speaking out about it."
"What's so weird is Sydney Sweeney is not an athlete," Ohanian told ESPN ahead of the event at StoneX Stadium. "The whole thing clearly was designed to evoke a response.
"It's frustrating that we're spending this much time talking about Sydney Sweeney and not talking about the amazing actual women athletes."
Sweeney appears with little or no clothing and poses with various pieces of sporting equipment in the Novig campaign, which has prompted criticism from female athletes who believe it sexualises women in sport.
Hunt was among those to respond after finishing fourth in the 200 metres at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday, looking into a BBC camera and saying: "Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like."
Ohanian, who has two daughters with Williams, co-founded NWSL side Angel City and is a minority shareholder in Chelsea Women, said: "Amy Hunt's a great example.
"I love seeing these athletes hijack this troll to turn it into something that is able to support or at least promote themselves, who are actual women athletes."
Sweeney subsequently shared images on Instagram of athletes who had previously posed nude, including Williams, Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird and Rob Gronkowski.
Ohanian, however, described comparisons between the Novig campaign and ESPN's former Body Issue as a "false equivalence."
"The whole point of the Body Issue is that these are athletes, men and women, who, one, are electing to do this themselves," he said. "But two, it's celebrating the fact that to be a professional athlete, especially a great one, you are giving your mind and body to a craft for decades.
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"Your body is a resume of how much effort you're putting into that craft.
"Yes, these are attractive athletes, but they're athletes showing off their work. And no one is outraged by it because they're athletes showing off the resume of their work.
"If you are an actress, no disrespect to any actress, but you have not devoted decades of your life to perfecting a physical skill. So it's not at all the same."
Ohanian said the controversy had also demonstrated the increased platform now available to female athletes compared with five or 10 years ago.
"I think things like [this make] Athlos even more important," he said. "The fact that we have athletes that were sort of hijacking or counter-programming this message is a way to continue to get the stories of actual women athletes out there.
"I hope this is a mile marker.
"Part of the reason there is this conversation pushing back on it is because of all the progress women's sports has made in the last, really, five years.
"Now they have a platform. There are more people than ever to be able to counter-programme this, there are more voices to push back on this.
"If we're on the right direction, then no one is even thinking to make this an ad in another five years, or another 10 years."
Ohanian said the reaction also reinforced his belief in putting athletes at the centre of Athlos, with those competing in the series this year receiving equity in the league.
The likes of Keely Hodgkinson and Sha'Carri Richardson will be two of those, while also vying for Tiffany crowns and a share of the $1.057 million (£790,266) prize pot.
"We're always trying to put these athletes first, as owners, as partners," Ohanian concluded. "No one's coming out to see me run, they're coming out to see these women.
"We get a better product, we get a better league at the end of the day for them to feel like owners, because they are."
