Meg Oliphant/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Professional soccer player and Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan is one of the new cover stars of the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
“Alex Morgan stands for feminine strength and power, using her voice to fight for gender discrimination and equal pay,” said MJ Day, editor of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in a press release.
Morgan joins 45-year-old supermodel Tyra Banks as one of three cover stars.
Banks, who was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of this publication alongside model Valeria Mazza in 1996, came out of retirement for the 2019 issue.
“There is this stereotype that only a 20-year-old woman in a bikini is hot,” Banks told Sports Illustrated. “Like once we reach a certain age, we are no longer desirable. But I want to show that modeling has no age. I’m coming out of retirement to practice what I preach.”
Sports Illustrated rookie and former Patriots cheerleader Camille Kostek rounds out the trio of cover stars.
The model and dancer appeared in the 2018 swimsuit issue as part of the company’s model search through Instagram and is now a cover star.
The 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue features 34 women. Day told ABC News’ Good Morning America that the upcoming issue is “one of the biggest and broadest samplings of beauty that we’ve ever featured.” It is on newsstands now.
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