This one gives "adult gymnastics" a whole new meaning: 2011 U.S. World team member Alicia Sacramone is one of more than 20 athletes who posed nude for ESPN The Magazine's annual "Body" issue. (The magazine comes out October 7, the same day Worlds gets underway in Tokyo. Talk about timing!)
ESPN's photos from past issues of the magazine have been very tasteful. The issue is not meant to be racy -- rather, it is "exploration and celebration of the athletic form," according to the magazine's editors. (Still, you wonder if Martha Karolyi and/or USA Gymnastics were told about this beforehand.)
Other gymnasts, notably Russian star Svetlana Khorkina and rhythmic Olympic champion Alina Kabayeva and several Romanians from the '90s, have posed nude or semi-nude for different publications, but Sacramone becomes the first American gymnast in memory to take off her clothes for a photo shoot (private parts strategically covered, of course.)
According to USA Today, other athletes who agreed to pose for the magazine's third annual issue featuring the body include U.S. soccer star Hope Solo, speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno and NBA stars Blake Griffin and Sylvia Fowles. Tennis dynamo Serena Williams, figure skater Evan Lysacek, the NBA's Dwight Howard and the entire U.S. women's water polo team have also appeared nude or next to nude in past "Body" issues.
There's also video: Have a look at the making of the 2010 ESPN "Body" Issue, a fun romp through a naked photo shoot featuring outtakes with the athletes. Can you imagine what the outgoing Sacramone would have to say during one of those?
Photo gallery: Alicia Sacramone's 2010 comeback
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