Mike Windle/Getty Images for ESPN(NEW YORK) — ESPN The Magazine is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its body issue with 10 unique cover images, including one that features the first-ever LGBTQ couple to pose together in the magazine’s history.
The power couple of women’s sports — WNBA star Sue Bird and professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe — were captured together in this year’s magazine.
The highly-anticipated body issue, which annually features athletes baring all, always aims to celebrate diversity, and this year includes three other women on the covers: soccer player Crystal Dunn, softball player Lauren Chamberlain, and basketball star Breanna Stewart.
The female athletes are posed as if they are in action — jumping for a basket or lunging for a kick, with balls or bats alongside them.
Creators say the body issue has always challenged beauty magazines’ traditional notions of bodily perfection, and invites readers to celebrate athletic prowess in all its forms.
In the past, transgender athlete Chris Mosier has been spotlighted, and veteran paralympian Kristie Ennis has also posed for the iconic issue.
America’s sweetheart, Adam Rippon, posed for this year’s issue while nude, skating and gliding on ice. Rippon took home a bronze medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The full gallery of shots from this year’s annual body issue is on ESPN’s website, here.
The magazine hits newsstands nationwide on Friday.
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