ESPN’s “Body Issue” came out today. The issue, which features several prominent athletes posing nude, is always a big hit on social media. This year’s edition features athletes like Karl-Anthony Towns, Sue Bird, Saquon Barkley and others. U.S. Winter Olympics star Jessie Diggins is a part of this year’s magazine. She took to Instagram to discuss the opportunity and why she did it. “I never thought I’d do the ESPN Body Issue..but that’s also because at one point in my life, I never thought I’d have the self-confidence to love myself and truly believe that who I am is good enough. I am perfectly imperfect, and beautifully flawed. And before you judge, there’s a blog post about my journey to positive body image that you really should read (link in bio). Love your body for the kick-ass things it can do, not for what it looks like,” she wrote. Diggins had previously said that this was not a “spur of the moment” decision and that it was something she really thought about. “This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision for me. I second guessed myself and debated whether or not I wanted to be in it for a while, worried about what people might say (that I did it for the money? You don’t get paid to do the magazine) and if it would make me less of a role model when I, too, could be proud to show off the muscles I worked so hard for. Then I realized something…if only my 19 year old self could have had this healthy and positive body image, I wouldn’t have had such a long journey towards feeling proud of my body! Being an athlete with a strong body and muscles, and being psyched about the things my body can DO, instead of worried about what it feels like, is the most empowering feeling in the world. And I’m happy to share that. Let’s be less judgmental of one another, yes? Here’s to celebrating the human body and the amazing things it can do!” she wrote. You can see full photos from this year’s edition here.<doc-sep>Sports Afton's Jessie Diggins Featured In ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue Photos and video from the magazine were released online earlier this week. Reply Afton native and Stillwater High School graduate Jessie Diggins is one of 15 famous athletes featured nude in the 2018 edition of ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue. Photos and video from the magazine were released online earlier this week. Diggins, 26, spoke to the magazine about her life in Minnesota, her career, and what she hopes being in the Body Issue will do for women's cross-country skiing. "I think, as a society, we tend to celebrate when men show off their bodies, and then sometimes we're judging when women do it," she told ESPN. "And I think it's really important to say, 'Hey, girls can be strong. Girls can have muscles.'" Until Diggins and her sprint teammate Kikkan Randall did it earlier this year in Pyeongchang, no American woman had medaled in cross-country skiing at the Olympics, and Bill Koch was the only American to have ever medaled in the sport (he won bronze back in 1976). "Cross-country skiing takes a lot of power and endurance, and it's also a graceful sport," Diggins added. "And I hope to be able to show those elements in the photos and to inspire younger women to be OK with who they are and what they look like."<doc-sep>ST. PAUL - Afton, Minn., native Jessie Diggins doesn't care about the haters. Not anymore. That's something the 2018 Winter Olympic gold medalist wants to make abundantly clear after posing in the ESPN Body Issue for a tastefully nude spread of photographs published this week. listen live watch live "There's always going to be haters that tell us what we can and can't do with our bodies, and it's not up to them," the 26-year-old Nordic ski star said in a telephone interview with the Pioneer Press. "Everyone has their own reason for being part of it. I decided to do it because, for me, it was a full-circle moment of being proud of my body. It was the celebration of that more than anything else." That wasn't was always the case for Diggins, something she opened up about in a very personal blog post published on the day the ESPN Body Issue came out. She wrote about her struggles growing up with body image issues, revealing she suffered from an eating disorder after graduating from Stillwater High School, eventually seeking help at The Emily Program on her road to recovery. Because of that, Diggins admitted there was a flood of emotions when initially approached about posing for ESPN. She wasn't sure how to feel about it, and perhaps more pressing, wasn't sure how she would feel about it if she decided to do it. "I was extremely apprehensive at first," she said. "This is something I never thought I'd do and I guess part of me was nervous that doing it would bring some of those insecurities back up." Ultimately, Diggins decided posing was a chance to inspire others who might be struggling with similar body image issues. "I feel like everyone in the world has at some point felt insecure about how they look," she said. "It's a universal thing, so it's important not to feel this negative stigma about it. I feel like we need to start celebrating what our bodies can do rather than feeling a certain way about how our bodies look." Researching the ESPN Body Issue before making her decision, Diggins also noticed a distinguishable trend with how male athletes who have posed are viewed compared to female athletes. More often than not, she surmised, a male athlete was lauded for his participation, while a female athlete was criticized. "It's such a crazy double standard that suddenly we aren't a role model when we want to be proud of our bodies," she said. "That was another thing that made me be, like, 'Yeah. I really want to do this.' We aren't going to solve body image issues by not talking about it, so I'm hoping this actually opens up the conversation." Diggins was anxious going into the photo shoot, though working with an all-female support staff helped her feel more comfortable. "I had one request," she said. "I didn't want the photos to be sexy; I wanted the photos to be bad ass. They had to be powerful and show the joy of the sport. "It ended up being incredibly empowering. I felt strong and confident, and I was able to embrace my muscles. I'm really glad I did it." Diggins said the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. She also has had many people reach out on social media regarding her blog post that coincided with the ESPN Body Issue. "I went into this thinking maybe I'd help one person," Diggins said. "Just to see the amount of people reaching out has been awesome. That's exactly the reason I decided to something like this." To be expected, there has been some negative reaction on social media, too, something Diggins dismisses at this point. "I feel like this experience has made me even stronger being able to say, 'I don't care what those type of people think about me,'" she said. "There are always going to be people that find something to hate on. All the people that I'm closest with have supported me throughout this process. That's the only thing that matters to me. I don't need to worry what some random 40-year-old man sitting in his basement is posting on my Instagram. It really doesn't matter." After some offseason time at home, Diggins is back in Stratton, Vt., training for next season. It's a welcomed change after six months of chaos following the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. "I feel like that Olympic fever is finally starting to die down," Diggins said with a sigh of relief. "It's been a good kind of exhausting. That said, I'm glad everything is kind of getting back to normal."<doc-sep>Afton native and Stillwater High School graduate Jessie Diggins is one of 15 famous athletes that will be featured in the buff for the 2018 edition of ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue. The edition will be released online June 25. Another athlete with local ties, Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, will join Olympic gold medalist Diggins in the nude issue. Until Diggins and her sprint teammate Kikkan Randall did it earlier this year in Pyeongchang, no American woman had medaled in cross-country skiing at the Olympics, and Bill Koch was the only American to have ever medaled in the sport (he won bronze back in 1976).<doc-sep>
Jessie Diggins hopes to open a conversation about body image after appearing in ESPN the Magazine‘s “Body Issue.” The Olympic gold medalist detailed her own experience with an eating disorder as a teenager in what she called “the most important blog I’ll ever write.” “When I was 18-19 years old, I had everything in the world going for me, but I struggled with confidence and didn’t love myself,” Diggins, now 26, wrote on her website. “I suffered from an eating disorder, and eventually sought help at a treatment center, checking in for a summer program that saved my life. So when I was approached about the ESPN issue, I thought “is this REALLY something I want to do? Will it bring back old memories? Will I be ok with everyone seeing my body exactly as it is?” Diggins is remembered for winning the first U.S. Olympic cross-country skiing title with Kikkan Randall in PyeongChang (Here comes Diggins!). In the cross-country world, she’s also reputed for her bubbly presence, spreading glitter across her face and sharing it with fellow skiers before races. She wants to be associated with much more. “I want to be known not for going through an eating disorder, but for helping other women and men speak up when they need help and not feel judged for needing a friend to talk it through with,” Diggins wrote. “Statistically speaking, at least 6% of you reading this right now are struggling with disordered eating in some way. So to those of you for whom it feels like the end of the world, I can say this: it can, and it does, get better. I know, because I lived it. It will take more courage than most anything else in your life, but you can get better. And it’s worth it.” Years before becoming a medal-winning athlete, Diggins checked into The Emily Program, a national leader for eating disorder treatment. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but also the most important,” she wrote. “Because it saved my life, in every way that a life can be saved. I learned that I was struggling with this so much because I needed an outlet for stress, and that it was ok to feel a range of emotions – that I could survive feeling pressured, stressed, unhappy, sad, or angry as well as feeling happy-go-lucky.” Diggins called posing for the Body Issue “a full-circle moment.” ESPN says the Body Issue celebrates every shape and size of athletes in artful fashion. “[It’s] a chance for me to use a large stage to waltz right up to the microphone and share a message that I think is extremely important, and long overdue,” Diggins wrote. “We need to open up the conversation about body image, self confidence, and disordered eating. It should not be a shameful thing, or a taboo topic. It’s more prevalent than people think, and perhaps making help easier to find and less difficult to ask for could save some lives.” MORE: Biathlon legend retires with four Olympic golds OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!