What does a female athlete look like?

I especially love this commercial that was put out earlier this year by Nike because it looks at female athletes in a way that is not typically done so (also, because it includes roller derby). There are women in this video sweating, running, with prostheses, jumping through fire, and even dunking a basketball over a group of men. This video is representing female athletes for what they do, and not what they look like which is a huge gulp of fresh air.

Why is it that female athletes are always pictured with some sexual overtone? Why is it that the only reason we know about Brandi Chastain is because she took her shirt off after scoring the winning goal at the 1999 Women's World Cup? When you think of tennis, do you immediately think of Anna Kournikova? If you do, and you google her, isn't it amazing that there are more photos that show up of her in a bikini (or topless) than there is of her actually playing tennis? In fact, I just googled her and of the first 50 photos that showed up, only two of them of her in competition.

In reality, female athletes don't look like supermodels despite the images we see of them in magazines and online. A great representation of the way true athletes look would be to examine the female athletes who participated in the Reebok 2011 CrossFit Games ! These women are stacked and able to accomplish many physical feats that your typical male athlete couldn't do. They are strong, they are confident, and they aren't an hourglass figure in short skirts.

I think marketing agencies and Sports Illustrated need to re-think what a female athlete looks like and what they are capable of. I vote to see less Kournikova-types, and more like these women .