After catching some serious heat in her native Poland for posing in ESPN The Magazine’s Body issue, Agnieszka Radwanska did what all athletes seem to do these days when they’re angry: She vented on social media.
In response to Catholic group called Youth Crusade distancing itself from Radwanska because of her “immoral behavior,” the 24-year-old tennis pro took to Facebook to offer a rebuke.
“The pictures are certainly not meant to cause offense and to brand them as immoral clearly does not take into account the context of the magazine,” she wrote. “Moreover, they do not contain any explicit imagery whatsoever. I train extremely hard to keep my body in shape and that's what the article and the magazine is all about. If you read the interview, it only discusses my job as an athlete and what I have to do physically to be able to participate at the highest level of sport.”
The images showed the No. 4 player in the world floating in a pool around tennis balls and and sitting near the pool as well, but though she was nude, the photos aren’t considered lewd by the masses. Many other athletes pose in the issue, Radwanska pointed out on her page.
“Other athletes photographed include San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, 77-year-old golf legend Gary Player, and Olympic volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings — during and after her pregnancy. My tennis colleagues Serena Williams, Daniela Hantuchova and Vera Zvonareva have all participated in the past,”
she wrote.
Two years ago, Radwanska participated in Youth Crusade’s campaign called “I’m not ashamed of Jesus.” Clearly, she isn't ashamed of her body, either, and isn't afraid to say so.
