Independent MP Zali Steggall has strongly criticised a gambling advertisement featuring US actress Sydney Sweeney, accusing it of exploiting her body to promote sports betting and of "luring" young men into harmful gambling habits. Steggall, a former Winter Olympic skier, said the campaign undermined decades of effort by female athletes to be recognised for their sporting achievements rather than their appearance, calling it "offensive" and damaging to the perception of women in sport.

The advertisement shows Sweeney scantily clad while parodying sports including tennis, golf and ice hockey, with scenes depicting her topless on a basketball hoop and a pool table, before promoting bets on "just sports". Steggall, who won bronze in the slalom at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, said she had faced similar pressure to do sexualised campaigns during her own athletic career. Her comments join criticism from other athletes, including swimmer Ariarne Titmus, who called the advert "an absolute joke", while the Australian Institute of Sport responded with its own video championing genuine sporting achievement.