Olympians Lisa Buckwitz and Janine Flock are making headlines just as the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing get underway.
Buckwitz, a German bobsledder and skeleton racer, and Flock, who hails from Austria, posed nude for Playboy Germany’s Olympic issue, which dedicates a sultry cover of each athlete.
Buckwitz, who won gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, posed naked in a silk green blouse that was unbuttoned, exposing her breasts.
The 27-year-old Buckwitz also wore a gold body chain that wrapped around her waist and dangled across her butt and left thigh. She stood tall in the cover photo, leaning against a mirrored door with her black stiletto pressed against the glass.
Flock, who competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, posed nude while sitting in a chair, covering part of her breasts with a fur blanket.
In accompanying interviews with Playboy, Buckwitz and Flock discussed the beauty of “natural bodies” and preached that women are deserving of feeling confident in their own skin.
“Every woman can be naked and nobody should be ashamed of her body,” Buckwitz, a 2022 European Champion, said, via The Sun.
“For example, I have a few more muscles – so what? I wanted to show that this is also a woman’s body. I don’t have to hide as a competitive athlete. No woman has to hide.”
Flock, whose resume includes 10 world championship medals, expressed the importance of body positivity.
“I want to show that a natural body can also be beautiful. One on which nothing is done. I haven’t had any cosmetic surgeries and I stand by what I have,” said the 32-year-old Austrian.
“Every woman can be proud of her body. It’s important to have things other than sport on your mind every now and then, I think it could even give me an extra motivation boost.”
Buckwitz and Flock also shared their respective covers to their personal Instagram accounts.
“Thanks for the opportunity to show me from a different side,” Buckwitz wrote.
