This was recently mentioned in the Marilyn Monroe thread.
One nude photograph of Cathy Rigby appeared in the August 21, 1972 issue of SI, in the article, “Sugar and Spice – and Iron” by Anita Verschoth. I have read that it was the first nudity in SI.
The photo was part of the Bodies in Motion series by Jerry Cooke. 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.
There were other nudes of Rigby in the series.
- 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.
