The annual ESPN Body Issue hit the newsstands Friday. The Issue celebrates twenty-four athletes of every shape and size, and they are willing to bare it all — not just their muscled physique, but also their honesty about the insecurities anyone can face, even the fittest among us.
The full collection of photos features: Odell Beckham, Jr. (football), Amanda Bingson (hammer throw), Leticia Bufoni (Skateboarder), Indianapolis Colts Offensive Linemen- Anthony Castonzo (with Jack Mewhort and Todd Herremans) (football), Natalie Coughlin (swimming), Bryce Harper (baseball) , Brittney Griner, (basketball), Jermaine Jones (soccer), DeAndre Jordan (Basketball), Ali Krieger (Soccer) Kevin Love (Basketball), Khatuna Lorig (Olympic Archer), Chantae McMillan (heptathlon), Aly Raisman (gymnastics), Gabby Reece, volleyball (with husband Laird Hamilton, surfing), Tyler Seguin (hockey), Paige Selenski (field hockey) and Stan Wawrinka (Tennis). Read on for our favorite body-positive quotes.
Odell Beckham, Jr., football
“I have my mom’s body. She was a six-time All-American [in track]. I have her exact body structure from head to toe — her wrists, arms, everything. I pretty much look like an identical twin of my mom.”
Amanda Bingson, hammer throw
“Whatever your body type is, just use it. There are definitely things that I can do that skinnier people can’t do. But then there are things that skinnier people do that I’ll never be able to do, like run a marathon. There’s just no way that will ever happen.”
Leticia Bufoni, Skateboarder
“I never lift weights. I don’t want to get big. If you want to skate well and be fast you can’t be big, you know? I use more of my body weight [when I train],”
Indianapolis Colts Offensive Linemen- Anthony Castonzo (with Jack Mewhort and Todd Herremans), football
“In middle school, I used to refuse to play basketball shirtless outside because I was afraid people would see me and I was not happy with my body. Then when I was in high school, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m too skinny, I need to put more muscle on.’ It’s an ongoing process. … I don’t think a perfect body is attainable.”
Natalie Coughlin, swimming:
“There were a lot of girls around me growing up that suffered full-blown eating disorders, or just the body dysmorphia that every girl feels — especially every girl in a swimsuit. There were times when I wasn’t happy with my body, but I always knew that I was really fit and that it was what allowed me to be successful in the pool.”
Bryce Harper, baseball
“Either you put crap into your body and you feel lazy all day, or you put good stuff into your system and you feel great every single day.”
Brittney Griner, basketball
“I’d describe myself as athletically lanky. I want to show people that. I’m comfortable in my body and I don’t mind putting it on display. Honestly, I like how unique it is. My big arms, my bigger hands, these long legs — I love being different. If everybody was the same, it’d be a boring-ass world.”
DeAndre Jordan, Basketball
“I was about 6-foot-3 my freshman year of high school, and after the summer, I was about 6-foot-8. It all happened so fast. I went into the summer being tall, and when I came back, I was a giant. My knees, man, they were throbbing all the time. I couldn’t sit in the car for long stretches; my knees felt like they were going to explode.”
Ali Krieger, soccer
“I feel like I have big thighs. My brother was always like, ‘Yeah, I want big thighs! Big thighs are awesome!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, for a man!’ But I’ve trained since I was 6 years old to play soccer, and this is just the type of body I have. I’m proud of my thighs because they’ve gotten me to where I am today and give me the power that I have to play my best.”
Jermaine Jones, soccer
“The other kind of pain I’ve battled is with tattoos. That’s the pain where my wife always tells me I’m being stupid. But I love it.”
Kevin Love, Basketball
“I lost a pretty good amount of weight after the injury, close to 15 pounds. I’m down to 238. But throughout my career, I’ve always looked at injuries as opportunities.”
Khatuna Lorig, Olympic Archer
“My back muscles are beautiful! Archery has helped sculpt my upper body. I’m in great shape and really happy about that, very satisfied. I put up slow-motion videos that focus on my back and on my shoulders, and when I watch them I think, ‘Damn, I look good!’
Chantae McMillan, heptathlon
“I don’t look in the mirror and think ‘slim’; I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Whoa, beast!”
Sadena Parks, LPGA
“I have a butt that is larger than I want it to be. I know it gives me power in my swing, but everybody is like ‘You’ve got a nice butt!’ I’m like ‘Well, thank you, but you can have it if you want it. I’ll give it to you, it’s all yours,'”
Aly Raisman, gymnastics
“Instead of being insecure about my muscles, I’ve learned to love them. I don’t even think of it as a flaw anymore because it’s made me into the athlete that I am.”
Gabby Reece, volleyball (with husband Laird Hamilton, surfing)
“In college I was modeling in New York, and I worked with the most beautiful women in the world. They were so beautiful you could barely look at them. And then I would go back to my team at Florida State, and we were all trying to get as big as we could because we wanted to be as strong as possible. And they seemed more confident and happier. I thought: ‘Being perfectly beautiful — or what’s defined by the standards of the world as beautiful — doesn’t actually make you happier.'”
Tyler Seguin, hockey
“I wasn’t a tall kid, but I’ve always had massive feet and big hands. I did feel a little clownish, especially as a kid. . . . But it was actually a good problem for hockey; I’ve always been a good skater, and I can attribute some of that to having big feet since a really young age.”
Paige Selenski, field hockey
“I was lucky that I was naturally gifted with an athletic body, but I also put a lot of work into it. I don’t stay home and do abs all day long; it just comes with running and all the things I do to stay in shape. I use my body every day for my job. We constantly put our bodies through pain. I’m not afraid to show that off.”
Stan Wawrinka, Tennis
“My body is for my tennis, it’s for my sport. I’m not a model at all. I don’t work out to go to the beach, I work out to play well and to do well on the court.”