Creative agency Formidable produced series focused on female athletes

Team GB Sporty AF

Team GB has launched Sporty AF, a six-part YouTube series focused on female athletes, as it looks ahead to the 2024 Olympics.

Produced by an all-female team at creative agency Formidable, the series aims to celebrate the strength and achievements of Team GB’s female athletes. Each episode features four different athletes from a wide variety of Olympic sporting disciplines talking about the shared experiences affecting women both in their sporting and day-to-day lives such as body image, mental and physical health, menstrual cycles and gender equality.

Elin Klockare Jarlstrom was creative director for the project, with Ffion Davies as series producer/director, Jo Riding as head of production, Lorna Whittaker as production manager, Adenike Oke as DOP, and Esmé Hicks as editor.

AJ Odudo presents, and she is joined by athletes including Abi Burton (rugby sevens), Amber Hill (shooting), Imani-Lara Lansiquot (athletics), Katy Nicholls (cycling), Jazmin Sawyers (athletics), Kate Shortman (artistic swimming), Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix (diving), Izzy Thorpe (artistic swimming), Anna Toman (hockey), Kimberley Woods (canoeing), and Nekoda Smythe-Davis (judo). 

The panel is also joined on specific episodes by Dr Kate Hutchings of the UK Sports Institute (UKSI). A specialist consultant in female health and performance, Dr Hutchings provides an expert opinion and myth busts a number of misconceptions.

The first episode will be available 13 September.

Carly Hodgson, head of marketing for Team GB, said: “At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and for the first time in our 127-year history, Team GB had more women than men compete at the Games, and we are thrilled to see the strength of our female athletes continue to shine as we head towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“As we build towards Paris 2024, we want to give our fans a unique insight into the stories behind our amazing athletes. We are delighted that Sporty AF not only provided a platform for a fantastic group of women to share their stories and experiences with our fans, but also with one another. It’s not every day that athletes get chance to mix in this way, across sports, and it was brilliant to see them come together in such a supportive and open way, resulting in content series we are incredibly proud of.  The series was also produced by an all-female production crew, which created the perfect environment on set for the athletes to share their stories.

Elin Klockare Jarlstrom, creative director at Formidable, added: “The achievements of elite female athletes are finally getting the attention they deserve, however there are a range of topics and issues facing these athletes that are rarely discussed within the sporting industry. We pitched this series to Team GB to help them create safe spaces for both current and aspiring female athletes to share their stories and uplift one another.

“We achieved this by creating an environment in which each of the athletes we filmed felt comfortable sharing their most intimate stories on camera. An important factor was fielding an all-female production crew, facilitating a huge sense of solidarity and empowerment on set, enabling our athletes to show off their natural warmth and humour whilst sharing some of their most intimate stories.”

Odudu commented: “It was so incredible chatting to these athletes who are inspiring others through lifting their voices to elevate women in sport.”