Tennis star Serena Williams and American mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano are two more of six expected covers from
ESPN the Magazine's upcoming Body Issue. Sarah Reinertsen, the first female amputee to complete in the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, is also featured on one of the covers. The magazine covers from ESPN are likely to be controversial as they show athletes either partially dressed or strategically positioned photographs of athletes without their clothes on. ESPN appers to be trying to compete with
Sport's Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue. In addition to the covers,
ESPN features some of the athletes in a section called "Bodies We Want."
USA Today has published a
list of the athletes expected to appear in the special issue. Some of the other athletes include Lolo Jones, James Blake, Laird Hamilton, Alexis Solis, Manny Pacquiao and Christina Kim.
Update: It appears the special issue was a hit for
ESPN the Magazine. The
New York Times reports that the October 2009 issue was the biggest issue ever for the magazine in terms of revenue. CNBC
reports that Selena's cover was the bestselling cover of the six released.
