Last year, I shared some of the images from ESPN the Magazine’s annual “The Body” issue. The joke then was that the seemingly perfect specimens they were offering us should make anyone a sports fan. But this year, ESPN included a number of non-traditional “bodies”, an effort for which I applaud them.
You’ve got 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s almost entirely tattooed torso.
Golf legend Gary Player in his 77-year-old glory.
Motorcross racer Tarah Gieger and her stacked thighs.
And perhaps most amazingly, and beautifully, Olympic volleyballer Kerri Walsh Jennings, before and after the birth of her child.
Now, don’t get me wrong, these are still people in the upper, upper, upper echelons of athleticism and physical beauty. But it is nice to see them feature people who have more than ribbed abs, skinny waists, and giants chests of one variety or the other.
I am… pleased by the inclusion of John Isner.
Oh yes, he was a great choice.
Gary Player looks sporking incredible for 77.
[shrugs]
Exactly. If I had as many years to get in shape as Player’s had, I’d look pretty damn good too.
Heh. I was referring to the picture.
But in any case, I am with the good Doctor on this one.
I would have guessed he was 50. Good for him!
This reminds me of a book called “The Athlete” from a few years back. It has your typical hardbodies, but it also has other athletes from non-typical sports like sumo wrestling, table tennis and hammer throwing.
Here’s an album of scans from the book.
Are extensive tattoos really “unconventional” for an athlete in the US?
Among athletes, probably not. But we’re not THAT far removed from Hoop Magazine airbrushing Allen Iverson’s tattoos when featuring him on the cover of their magazine.