Kerri Walsh Poses Nude While Pregnant, With Baby In ESPN’s Body Issue

Kerri Walsh, the beach volleyball Olympic gold medalist, posed nude in two separate shoots for ESPN’s Body Issue – once while pregnant, and once with her newborn baby.

Walsh, 34, who is often seen nearly-naked competing on the sand volleyball courts, was admittedly hesitant about exposing herself nine weeks after giving birth to her third child. “Driving there I was sweating bullets,” Walsh admitted to People. “I was really, really nervous. I felt exposed, not just physically, but with all of my insecurities.”

“[It was] scary as hell. For the first shoot, I was very pregnant, and that wasn’t as scary. I thought it would be, because I was big and rotund when I’m usually the opposite, but it was really comfortable because I felt almost like I was in costume,” Walsh added. “But for the second, I was two and a half months out from having a baby. I’m supposed to be tight and toned and strong, but I have a lot more work to do.”

Walsh is but one of many athletes who are featured in ESPN’s 2013 Body Issue. Among the other sportsmen and women were San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, 77-year-old golfer Gary Player, U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team forward Sydney Leroux and Washington Wizards Guard John Wall.

“When I was offered this opportunity it wasn’t an automatic yes,” revealed Walsh. “I had to think about it. I’m my parents’ daughter. I have my husband,” she said. “When I came down to it, I had the opportunity to do something uncomfortable. I think that’s an important part of life. It’s something new. I looked at it as a challenge.”

Walsh will compete in her first tournament of the season next month in Switzerland, and is determined to drop around 10 more lbs. before then. Since her longtime partner Misty-May-Treanor retired after their gold medal win at the London Olympics, she’s found a new partner in the promising April Ross.

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