“Knowing” the hero: the female athlete and myth at work in Nike advertising DEBRA A . CAPON AND MICHELLE T . HELSTEIN

The narrative of the hero is one of the most powerful and pervasive of myths, and Western sport media continually use the heroic narrative in reference to athletic performance. The myth of the hero, as a prevailing trend within representations of sport, has inevitably made its way into the cultural politics of sport advertising. Such advertising does not contain itself within the specific spheres of sport; like all advertising its proliferation in contemporary culture is extensive.