This was recently mentioned in the Marilyn Monroe thread.
I have read that this image of Cathy Rigby was the first-ever nudity in SI. It appeared in the August 21, 1972 issue of SI, in the article, “Sugar and Spice – and Iron” by Anita Verschoth.
It was described in the film “JERRY COOKE THE PHOTOGRAPHER” by Neil Leifer, an SI staff photographer:
Jerry did an essay – a very, very smart idea, on the perfect body in sports – which would be the Olympic athlete. My favorite – only because I thought it was done so well, and is the kind of picture that could have really backfired on Sports Illustrated – but Jerry managed to photograph Cathy Rigby, who was our best Olympic Gymnast at the time – in just a beautiful picture. It could have been done by a lot of photographers. It would have been cheap, it would have been simply the kind of picture you would have seen in Playboy or Penthouse Magazine. But when Jerry did it, it was very appropriate for the magazine.
The full Bodies in Motion series by Jerry Cooke included other nudes of Rigby:
- The photographer’s home page includes a blurry outtake which I had never seen, and which gives a better look at her breasts.
- And a Reddit post includes several others from the series.
Says there are 7 comments, but I see none.
Most comments were lost when I had the system crash earlier this year. The posts were eventually recovered intact, so they still mention the number of comments that existed before the crash.
I still wonder if there are any more of Cathy Rigby than what we’ve seen. Like maybe the balance beam from the opposite angle. And there are also other athletes in that shoot as well (both male and female).
I remember that issue well. I was a big fan of Cathy’s at the Olympics. Seeing her in the shoot was liberating and the headline, about gymnastics perhaps should be done in the nude, was exactly right.
enjoyed looking through his archives
The Mikki King (diver) pics are amazing!