Athletes To Bare All In Upcoming Issue Of ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine Editor-in-Chief Gary Belsky said that "some prominent female and male athletes will drop their uniforms" for the magazine's first "Body Issue," slated to hit newsstands October 19, according to Michael McCarthy of USA TODAY. The magazine is "approaching pro, amateur and Olympic athletes about posing au naturel, albeit artfully covered or positioned." Belsky said that the response from athletes "has been enthusiastic," though he "declines to identify who has been approached." Belsky: "We're toying with the idea of making it a no-clothes issue." Belsky said he and his staff first will have to figure out how to "use equipment and pads and bats and goalposts and soccer nets and pucks and helmets to obscure body parts that we still can't quite go to in a magazine that's part of a company owned by (Disney)." McCarthy notes as part of the issue, the magazine is "asking athletes to help rank the 'Best Bodies' in sports." The issue also will explore the "past, present and future of the athletic form." Belsky added that "one male 'very big star' is even allowing photographers into the operating room during his surgery." One model for what Belsky "describes as an 'all-nude, tastefully done' approach is the Jan. 19, 2004, issue, which included photos of Winter X Games athletes in the buff." The issue showed snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler "sitting on the edge of a hot tub (but with her arms and legs strategically crossed), snowboarder Marc Frank Montoya as an unclothed room-service waiter (with a platter covering his private parts) and Aleisha Cline skiing in nothing but her hat, gloves and boots." McCarthy notes if successful, the "Body Issue" "could challenge 'Sports Illustrated's' annual swimsuit issue for readers, buzz and ad bucks" (USA TODAY, 6/11).
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