Aly Raisman On Photo Shoot: 'I Was So Comfortable I Could Have Walked To Starbucks Naked'
BOSTON (CBS) -- ESPN Magazine's "Body Issue" annually draws attention for highlighting the many shapes and sizes of professional athletes, and this year, local Olympian Aly Raisman graced the issue.
The 21-year-old Needham native won two Olympic golds in the 2012 Games in London, and she continues to work as hard as ever toward next summer's Olympics in Rio.
Raisman took time to join Toucher & Rich on Friday morning to discuss the photo shoot.
"It was one of those things where at first when they asked me to do it, I was really kind of nervous about it, because I had never really thought about actually doing it," Raisman said. "Every year when it comes out, I think it's amazing and I think it's a really beautiful thing, but I never actually saw myself really doing it. But as soon as I really thought about it and how hard I work for my body -- I eat really healthy, I worked out seven hours yesterday, so I put a lot of effort into the way that I look -- so I kind of thought it would be a cool thing to try. Once in a lifetime, for sure."
Rich said that for the average person, appearing in such a magazine would be mortifying, but it's obviously a different case for elite athletes. Raisman said she's not worried what other people think about the photos, because to her, they came out perfect.
"For me, I was really happy when I saw the photos. I love my photos, so that's the most important thing. As long as I like it," she said. "That was I think the most nerve-racking part was I didn't get a say in what photos ESPN chose, so I had to wait until Monday morning when the photos came out online to see which photos they chose. So that part was actually more nerve-racking than being naked at the shoot, because I wanted to make sure that I liked it. I can't think of anything worse than hating the photos that they picked for everyone to see."
As for the shoot, Raisman didn't feel uncomfortable.
"I'm pretty comfortable, so I liked it. I thought it was really fun. At 21 years old, I feel the most confident that I have in my whole life. If they asked maybe a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have had the confidence to do it. But I really, really enjoyed it. It was a great experience and it felt good to feel that comfortable with my body. Not saying I'm perfect. I have insecurities like everyone else, but you kind of forget that you're naked. The shoot was like six hours long because I'm such a perfectionist, so by the end of the day I was just so comfortable I could have walked to Starbucks naked. ... Not that I would do that."
Listen to the full interview below!
