ESPN Magazine’s annual Body Issue will only hit the stands on July 13th, but ESPN has unveiled the 27 top athletes who dared to go naked to make this year’s crop! Not only are the pictures funny, artistic and beautiful, some of them are also extremely inspiring. You’ll see what I mean when you get to the images featuring the beautiful Paralympic rower, Oksana Masters.
The magazine has produced 5 different covers for the special issue: the three that you see on top of the post and these two… which feature basketball player Candace Parker and baseball player Jose Bautista.
Here are the rest of my favourite pictures from the magazine…
Carlos Bocanegra, 33. Soccer defenseman, U.S. men’s national soccer team.
Maya Gabeira, 25. Big wave surfer.
Mike Smith, 46. Jockey.
Ronda Rousey, 25. Mixed martial artist.
Danell Leyva, 20. Gymnast, USA Gymnastics.
Anna Tunnicliffe, 29. Sailor, U.S. sailing team.
Tyson Chandler, 29. Center for the New York Knicks basketball team.
Ashton Eaton, 24. Decathlete, USA Track & Field.
Oksana Masters, 23. Paralympic rower.
Brad Richards, 32. Center for the New York Rangers hockey team.
Rob Gronkowski, 23. Tight end for the New England Patriots football team.
Daniel Hantuchova, 29. Tennis player.
Abby Wanbach, 32. Forward, U.S. women’s national soccer team.
Tim Morehouse, 33. USA fencer.
Destinee Hooker, 24 & Stacy Sykora, 35. U.S. women’s national volleyball team.
I don’t know about you, but I never cease to be amazed by the human body… and it’s also an excellent motivation to keep going to the gym;)
Lolitta xx
Photos: ESPN Magazine