Sports Illustrated reveals Swimsuit Edition featuring supermodels, sports stars and a UFC fighter

A host of sport’s biggest names stripped down to their bathers and showed off their physique as part of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

Camille Kostek is a 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover girl and several sports stars have joined her in the pages of the iconic magazine.

The model and former New England Patriots cheerleader, who is currently dating recently retired NFL star Rob Gronkowski, landed one of three solo covers of the swimsuit edition.

First issued in 1964, the Swimsuit edition has been an annual feature for Sports Illustrated to showcase the skin of a number of sporting personalities around the globe.

There are three different versions of the 2019 swimsuit issue. Supermodel Tyra Banks and soccer star Alex Morgan also have their own stunning cover

Camille on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. Picture: Josephine Clough/Sports Illustrated

29-year-old American soccer representative Morgan, who is an Olympic gold medallist and FIFA World Champion, said it was “worth the wait” to appear in the Swimsuit edition after her last shoot five years ago.

International alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn, who claimed three Olympic gold medals for the USA from 2002 to 2018, also made an appearance in the Swimsuit edition.

UFC fighter Paige VanZant was also featured in the iconic annual Swimsuit Edition. VanZant, 25, currently has a 8-4-0 record in the UFC and recently turned around a rough patch in the cage with a win against Rachael Ostovich in New York in January.

Cover-girl Kostek, 27, was plucked out of relative obscurity during Sports Illustrated’s open model casting in 2017 and earned a spot as a rookie in the 2018 mag.

She told The New York Post in 2017 that it was fellow SI cover girl Kate Upton’s 2011 issue that inspired her to pursue modelling.

“This is a model in a bikini I could relate to … she had these bikini bottoms and had a little love handle,” Kostek said.

Kostek has spoken out about how her curvy frame turned off modelling agents when she was just starting out. “They said, ‘Well, you don’t have the height, you don’t have the body, so get back to us once you’ve sorted that’.

“A short year ago, Camille Kostek was a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model search hopeful, vying for a coveted rookie spot in the 2019 issue,” remarked Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editor MJ Day.

“In a short amount of time, she has leveraged the power of her brand to inspire and educate others while at the same time pursuing her own dreams. She is a star on the rise.”

Kostek, who scored a rookie slot in last year’s magazine, said landing her own cover left her “speechless.”

“This is something that has left me shaking in my shoes,” Kostek said on “GMA.”

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was republished with permission