Images from this year’s ESPN the Magazine Body Issue are out, and, again, it features a slew of Olympians.
Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings, snowboarder Elena Hight, boxer Marlen Esparza, soccer player Sydney Leroux, basketball player Swin Cash and tennis players Agnieszka Radwanska and John Isner were among the athletes featured in the fifth edition that comes out Friday.
Of the Olympians, Walsh Jennings garnered the most publicity for her shots before and after giving birth to her third baby, daughter Scout, in April. Her post-baby photos came nine weeks after Scout was born, according to People magazine.
“Driving there I was sweating bullets,” said Walsh Jennings, 34, a three-time Olympic champion, to People. “I was really, really nervous. I felt exposed, not just physically, but with all of my insecurities.
“When I was offered this opportunity it wasn’t an automatic yes. I had to think about it. I’m my parents’ daughter. I have my husband,” she said. “When I came down to it, I had the opportunity to do something uncomfortable. I think that’s an important part of life. It’s something new. I looked at it as a challenge.”
Hight, 23, was sixth in the 2006 Olympic halfpipe and 10th in 2010. She’ll battle Olympic champions Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter, Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler and world champion Arielle Gold for one of a maximum four spots on the 2014 Olympic team.
“Your body is all you have in this lifetime, so taking care of it and honoring it is a huge part of my life,” Hight said in a caption under a photo of her grilling wearing only snow boots. “As an athlete you ask so much of your body all the time, so what you do to get that response is important.”
Esparza, 23, won bronze in the flyweight division at the London Olympics, the first Games including women’s boxing.
“Girls want breast implants or butt implants so they can look like Kim Kardashian, and I’m against that,” Esparza told ESPN. “We should let girls feel pretty no matter what they look like. But I like that I have long legs. I have a nice, toned back. My stomach is flat. But nothing’s my favorite. I think all-around, I’m average.”
Body Issue photos: Kerri Walsh Jennings | Elena Hight | Marlen Esparza | Sydney Leroux | Swin Cash
