Female athletes hit back at 'weird' and 'derogatory' comments about their appearance

Competing on the world stage at the top of their game - but it's not the sport that some spectators are focusing on.

Female international athletes have told the BBC that they experience "derogatory" and "weird" online comments about their appearance.

Wales and Saracens rugby player Georgia Evans, who was criticised during the Women's World Cup for wearing makeup and styling her hair, said how she played had "nothing to do with what I look like".

A 2025 survey by Women in Sport found the number of girls who dreamt of becoming professional athletes had fallen to its lowest level since 2020, which the charity said was because of gender stereotypes.

At the beginning of her career, Georgia said she received "derogatory" comments based on stereotypes including being referred to as a "butch lesbian".

"My sexuality has no bearing on whether I look girly, or whether I'm butch or whatever I present myself to be," she said.

"I'm not going to change who I am," she added.

"So I would still turn up on a game day with my tan done, my nails done, hair, everything."

Georgia said the "ritual" of wearing make-up and doing her hair helped her to forget about the cameras filming her every move on the pitch.

But her experience at the 2025 World Cup tournament in England was overshadowed when she was criticised online for wearing make-up and bows in her hair, with some even suggesting that it was to blame for the team's losses.

"It wasn't just about the big pink bow in my hair, it was about the makeup that I was wearing, about how I was treating it like a fashion show," she said.

"I've worked my whole life to get to the top of what rugby is, and all of a sudden, that's been called into question because I'm wearing pink bows in my hair.

"How I play has nothing to do with what I look like."

Georgia issued a statement on social media at the time hitting back at the comments, telling her Instagram followers "a rugby player is no longer defined by your gender or what you look like".

She said people from "across the world" sent messages of support.

"It's the silver lining of those minority of comments that had come out, had caused like a ripple effect of, when I say, hundreds of thousands of people messaging me.

"Within an hour, I had to actually turn my phone off because I just couldn't cope."

For Olympic gymnast Ruby Evans, how she looks is "as important" as the gymnastics itself.

"If I have a bad makeup day and I have to compete, it's gonna be a bad day," she said.

But when it's a good make-up day, the World Championship silver medallist said: "It's the best feeling ever.

"Everything is just like falling into place, I've trained all these weeks, and then everything just goes perfect.

"Even if it wasn't as perfect, if I look good, I'm like, 'oh, you know, it's okay."

Ruby said while the majority of the comments she received online were positive, she had notice her appearance being discussed, including a time that she chose not to wear fake tan for a competition.

"That time I did wear no tan, people noticed it," she said.

"[I] was like oh OK, right, I know people do actually notice how I look."

"Usually some men online can be quite weird," she continued.

"My audience are little girls, so if there is a comment that's a bit [inappropriate] I do delete it, just so the people who actually watch me for gymnastics don't see that side of it.

"I just want [young girls] to look up to me, I want to be a good role model."

Despite 2025 being a landmark year in women's sport, a recent survey by Women in Sport found the number of girls who dreamt of reaching the top in sport had fallen from 38% in 2024 to 23% in 2025.

That compared to 53% of boys who, when asked, said they dreamt of becoming top sportspeople.

Former Everton player and Wales international Gwennan Harries said social media had worsened the abuse faced by athletes.

The Bridgend-born striker, who is now a football commentator and PE teacher, also called for greater visibility of women's sport.

"The more inspirational women on TV who are showing their talents and succeeding, it'll feed down to the next generation," she said.

"If you don't see it, you can't be it so it's really important that those opportunities across sport are visible and is being publicized regularly with those people being treated well and respected."

Still wearing her bright pink bows, Georgia hopes to inspire the next generation of athletes.

"I liked the idea that these young girls who are probably getting the same comments as I did when I was coming through, you can see that you don't have to change," she said.

"Everybody has their right to look a certain way, be a certain way and the best thing about rugby is like, it's inclusive to every single person."