ESPN the Magazine’s annual “Body Issue” is known for featuring carefully posed nude athletes from a wide range of sports and with a wide range of bodies. They’ll continue the tradition this year, and take it a step further: Duathlete Chris Mosier will be the first transgender athlete to appear in the issue.
Mosier, 35, competes in the run-bike-run duathlon and was the first trans athlete to make a U.S. national team last year. The members of that team would represent the United States at the International Triathlon Union world duathlon championship, but Mosier wasn’t sure if he could compete due to arcane rules set by the International Olympic Committee that required all trans athletes to undergo surgery.
The IOC updated its stance — reflecting policies already in place at the collegiate level — and Mosier was able to compete in the Team USA uniform in June. He made history as the first out trans athlete to compete in a world championship and finished 26th among 47 men in his age group and 142nd overall out of 433 competitors.
Mosier said in a release: “As a trans person, I was in a body that didn’t really fit me for 29 years; now I feel comfortable in my own skin. That’s something that I’m proud of and wanted to share with other people.”
The “Body Issue” will be available online on July 6, and on newsstands on July 8.
