Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman becomes the latest athlete to grace ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue. In her accompanying interview, the 21-year-old discussed her intense training regimen and the challenges of being an Olympic-level athlete.

From ESPN:

“I’m not sure training seven hours a day is completely healthy. That’s why gymnastics is a young girl’s sport. But I should be fine. It’s not like I’m going to be doing this until I’m 30 or 40. I’ll let you know in 10 years if I have arthritis and everything [laughs].”

She also opened up about accepting her own body.

“I’ve never had an eating disorder, and I’m proud of that. I think gymnastics in the past had a bad reputation for that, but it’s not an issue anymore. I’ve never seen an issue among the girls on the national team.

I think imperfection is beauty. Instead of being insecure about my muscles, I’ve learned to love them. I don’t even think of it as a flaw anymore because it’s made me into the athlete that I am.”

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and USWNT defender Ali Krieger (and many others) are also featured in the Body Issue.

(Thanks to ESPN for sharing.)

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