Aly Raisman, along with several other athletes, have gone nude once again for the latest issue of "ESPN The Magazine's" annual, and extremely popular, Body Issue.
The 21-year-old Olympic athlete shows off her gymnastic moves, flexibility and extremely toned body in several breathtaking photos for the spread. Raisman was at the 2012 Summer Olympics as the captain of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's gymnastics team. She also individually won a gold medal for her floor routine and a bronze medal on the balance beam.
Raisman sat down with ESPN's Morty Ain for the exclusive interview and talked all about what it was like to strip down for the magazine as well as all the hard work and practice that goes into her gymnastic routines.
"You work your whole life for a minute-and-a-half beam routine," she told Ain. "I work out six days, 32 hours a week for the dream of competing at the Olympics again. I'm always eating healthy, always going to bed early. Everything I put into my body is for the purpose of gymnastics."
This truly does show in these amazing photographs. When it comes to the next Olympics, she explained that even though she's still so young, she will be considered old for gymnastics when it's time for the 2016 Rio Games. Because of the toll it takes on your body, gymnastics is such a young sport and she said that if she does make the team, she'll be the oldest U.S. gymnast at just 22.
"My body is a little bit more achy than it was before, but at the same time I feel like I'm smarter now and able to understand the recovery process," she continued to say. "Every day is a challenge. Even though at the 2012 Olympics we were so happy to win the gold medal, every day is not like that. I think people don't understand that; people don't see that side of the sport-the frustration, how much it takes a toll on your body, and mentally as well."
As a young athlete in a sport that has a bad reputation when it comes to dieting, she's proud to admit that she's never had an eating disorder. In fact, she says that it's not really an issue with anyone anymore. She'd never seen an issue with this for any of the girls on the national team.
"I think imperfection is beauty," she went on to say. "Instead of being insecure about my muscles, I've learned to love them. I don't even think of it as a flaw anymore because it's made me into the athlete that I am."
At just 5-ft. 2-in. and 115 pounds, Rasiman, who made it to the finals of "Dancing with the Stars" in season 16, has been able to stay in amazing shape throughout all her training, according to People. These photos are pure proof that hard work, as well as training seven hours a day, really does pay off.
Read the full interview and see all the other amazing athletes and their nude photos when the issue hits stands July 10.
