Cathy Rigby, Nude In Sports Illustrated

Wednesday, May 25th, 2022 -- by Bacchus

Fifty years ago, this photograph was considered pretty scandalous:

Olympic athlete and gymnast Cathy Rigby naked on a balance beam in Sports Illustrated

Some sources say it was the first nude photo ever to appear in Sports Illustrated. I don’t know if that’s true, but this photo of Olympian and US National Champion gymnast Cathy Rigby absolutely did appear in the August 21, 1972 issue, illustrating a story titled Sugar And Spice — And Iron. The photographer Jerry Cooke took the shot as part of his Bodies In Motion series, celebrating Olympic athletes as the epitome of perfect bodies in sports. I’d say Cathy was a great choice!

P.S. ErosBlog readers are always advised to click on images that appear here. Very often the images are linked to additional information — sometimes a gallery of similar photos, sometimes a larger and less-cropped version that offers additional context. In this case, you will see a hand-lettered caption by the photographer that says “Look but don’t touch!”

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