Does coverage of women's sport focus on personality over performance?

Over the past three years, women's basketball has become one of the most watched and talked-about sports in the USA. Around 1.5 million viewers tuned in to this year's WNBA draft, where the Dallas Wings made Azzi Fudd the number one pick. However, much of the media coverage of the draft focused more on Fudd's relationship with the Wings' star player, Paige Bueckers, than on Fudd's attributes as a player. Sophia Hartley is joined by journalist Frankie de la Cretaz, author of the newsletter Out of Your League, and the CBC's Karissa Donkin to discuss whether coverage of women's sport puts too much emphasis on personal lives over performances. Frankie explains why such scrutiny can lead to unhealthy fandom and have a negative effect on players.Karissa covers the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) in Canada. She says it's frustrating to know that a lot of the focus on the world's best female athletes is centered on what they do away from the ice or the court. Every Monday to Friday, More than the Score tells stories beyond the scoreline from all over the world of sport. From Formula One to netball, MMA to figure skating, and Grand Slam tennis to Diamond League athletics. We've got interviews with extraordinary athletes like heavyweight boxing champion Fabio Wardley, Tour de France winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, trailblazing Samoan athlete Alex Rose and cricket superstar Smriti Mandhana, as well as the experts working behind the scenes, from football super-agents to the coaches keeping athletes in peak form. Plus, we've got the expertise of the BBC's top journalists, who share their insights from decades of covering sport at all levels. And if you've got your own take on the stories we cover, we'd love to hear from you. Email [email protected], or WhatsApp us on 0044 800 032 0470. You can find more information, along with our privacy notice, on our website: www.bbcworldservice.com/morethanthescore