Star Athletes Pose Nude For ESPN’s Body Issue
Recently, ESPN The Magazine’s 2015 Body Issue was released. Many of the biggest athletes were photographed for this issue, as they have been each year since 2009. This year’s issue took a turn. “Body Love” started to trend as people showed their respect for all the athletes showing their bodies to the world. Bryce Harper, a baseball player for the Washington Nationals, says he went on an “extreme regimen” for his cover shot which shows that not only is body image an issue for women, but for men as well. This issue represents a strong movement for women and men alike to embrace their body size no matter how big, thin, tall, or short their bodies are. Here are a few interviews of athletes giving us their stories and why they wanted to do this shoot:
Aly Raisman, Gymnastics
“The perfect physique of a gymnast… I don’t think there is one. That’s why gymnastics is so great.” Raisman talks about how every gymnast has their own body types and how hers is more muscular than others. You use every part of your body as a gymnast so she explains how she works out up to 7 hours a day some days.
Kevin Love, Basketball
Love finds it funny that he was going to be apart of the body issue. He wasn’t the most fit boy growing up. He worked hard to do what was right for his basketball career by staying healthy and working out.
Ali Krieger, Soccer
The most challenging thing Krieger’s dealt with physically was a knee injury back in 2012 right before the Olympics. Her worst fear was to never be able to play at the highest level again. Her friends, family, and teammates motivated her to get back on the field. This type of injury is one that many athletes of all ages have faced. Seeing that Krieger was able to get back on the field, anyone can put in the effort to try and get back into the shape they were in before the injury.
Gabrielle Reece, Volleyball and Laird Hamilton, Surfing
Reece and Hamilton don’t train together. Hamilton introduced Reece to under water pool training which helps her work on her skill. Hamilton was really lucky to have ridden some incredible waves that make any other wave a piece of cake for him. The couple work out hard in order to stay in shape and keep a healthy lifestyle.
Bryce Harper, Baseball
“You’re growing up and you go, ‘I want to be on the front of a Wheaties Box, I want to be on the front of a Tops card, [I] want to be on the front of the body issue’.”
Harper says he takes a lot of pride working out and enjoys it. He eats about 6 meals a day that include a lot of protein. Harper says he doesn’t want to put on that much weight, but get as ripped as he can.
Paige Selenski, Field Hockey
Selenski started playing field hockey when she was 10 years old. According to Selenski, you need muscle strength, core, agility, and more to play this sport. She says her speed is her best quality. She’s gotten hit in the face a lot while playing. She wanted to showcase her athleticism and with field hockey not being that big of a sport, she wanted to show what the body of a field hockey player was like.
Odell Beckham Jr., Football
Beckham Jr. got injured during preseason while playing for the New York Giants. He wasn’t sure if he did the rehab right because he healed more quickly than he thought. He was upset for awhile because people thought he was just a pretty boy and didn’t actually want to play professional football. As a first round pick in the draft, he worked hard to prove those people wrong.
Todd Clever, Rugby
Clever has been playing international rugby for over 10 years. “You gotta be brave, you gotta leave it all out there. The biggest thing and the best thing is you gotta have fun doing it ”. His hard work is the key to success in his rugby career. His last rugby world cup is coming up and he’s hoping to end on a high note.
DeAndre Jordan, Basketball
Jordan likes to watch cartoons before a game like he did as a child. Batman is his favorite super hero. He compares himself to Batman — he’s just a regular guy that changes into his costume with no powers but still kicks-ass.
Tyler Seguin, Hockey
Seguin says a lot of the guys mess with him because he doesn’t have the biggest legs or butt like most hockey players have. They joke with him that he’s so fast because his feet are so big. He says he’s naturally a little thin, too. He only graduated high school a year before he joined the Bruins and was able to be apart of a championship team, as they won the Stanley Cup in 2011.
Each athlete talks about why they decided to do this shoot and how their bodies went through training. Each has their own techniques to eat healthy and workout regularly in order to maintain their physique for their sport. This is something that not only athletes can achieve, but anyone that puts their mind to it can. Every athlete has a story, but these athletes (along with a few more) decided to share theirs with the world.