ESPN's "Body Issue 2016" is out, and it features stunning nude portraits of host of athletes including baseball pitcher Jake Arrieta, wrestler Adeline Gray and motocross racer Ryan Dungey.
This is the eighth annual edition of the Body Issue and includes photos, personal interviews and videos of the athletes.
“The Body Issue has evolved into a powerful storytelling platform. Year after year, the athletes allow themselves to be completely vulnerable with our audience—not just in the photographs but with their interviews as well. This year we have athletes opening up in raw and moving ways about overcoming physical struggles: everything from asthma to HIV, amputation to transgender transitioning. It’s an honor to tell their stories," Neely Lohmann, senior deputy editor and the executive producer of The Magazine’s franchise issue said in a statement.
“The vulnerability that Neely describes—this is what continues to amaze me and what grows ever more compelling with each year that we do the Body Issue. The willingness of these athletes to share their personal journeys is stunning. They bring fans inside what it takes to build the bodies that achieve these incredible feats of sport. But they also share, unflinchingly, the mental and emotional journey they’ve each been on to embrace what is different, unique and often imperfect about their own bodies and body stories. It makes even the most elite of these athletes so very relatable and is something that will continue to draw in new fans," Alison Overholt, Editor-in-chief of ESPN the Magazine added.
The aim of the Body Issue is to "celebrate and explore the athletic form through powerful images and interviews."
The 2016 #BodyIssue has finally arrived.
— ESPN (@espn) July 6, 2016
Check out the full gallery here: https://t.co/VfasVvUW15https://t.co/5wkWz401zh
"We are the most elite players in the world." See all of @De11eDonne's #BodyIssue pics here: https://t.co/ONkQO8OJpZ pic.twitter.com/QN7BNk4ixX
— ESPN (@espn) July 6, 2016
"This is as authentic as it gets."
— ESPN (@espn) July 6, 2016
All of @DwyaneWade's #BodyIssue pics are live now: https://t.co/ONkQO8OJpZ pic.twitter.com/bPMgJ1a3A4
"I expect to beat everybody." @Cubs ace Jake Arrieta in the #BodyIssue: https://t.co/J5evqsaoTr pic.twitter.com/kCbvCJJlkR
— ESPN (@espn) July 6, 2016
You can check all the pictures here.