ESPN Body Issue 2012: Posing in Magazine Will Pay off for Olympians

The ESPN Body Issue serves as a great display of athletic physique, but it will also bring notoriety to a handful of deserving Olympians.

This year's magazine highlighted athletes who will be competing in the upcoming Olympics Games in London. For these men and women, posing nude is the best way to become a household name.

The Olympics are always extremely popular, but casual fans can rarely name more than a couple of athletes competing. Michael Phelps has certainly made his mark, and the men's basketball team features some of the most popular athletes in the world, but this is just a fraction of what the Olympics have to offer.

For this reason, the Body Issue will give fans a chance to learn about some of the other athletes to look for this summer.

Females especially have needed to use sex appeal to gain popularity in recent years. The U.S. women's soccer team is one of the best in the world, but they still do not receive as much fan support as the male squad.

Hope Solo tried to change that by posing on the cover of the body issue last season, and Alex Morgan continued the trend by wearing only body paint in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

This year, team leader Abby Wambach takes her turn in the studio.

This should be unnecessary, but the constant attention will be good in the long term for this talented squad.

Besides the soccer team, the volleyball team should get a boost in ratings after this issue as well. The entire team posed completely naked, and male viewers are certain to remember those images when the Olympics come around.

Misty May and Kerri Walsh received increased coverage when fans clamored for more beach volleyball with girls competing in bikinis. While the indoor team will be wearing more, they can generate the same level of buzz.

Still, it is not just females who will benefit from the magazine. Men's gymnastics is often an amazing display of strength and agility, but the public usually sticks to the female side of the competition. The average fan cannot name more than a couple of male gymnasts, if they can name any at all.

Danell Leyva is attempting to change that this year. The parallel bars specialist is a world champion in that event and America's best chance to win a gold medal in that sport. 

In the photo shoot, Leyva showed his incredible strength on a number of apparatuses. This preview alone should get fans excited to see what he can do during a full routine.

Athletes like Ashton Eaton, Carmelita Jeter and Walter Dix should gain more fans heading into the most important event of their lives as well.

It takes a lot of guts for these men and women to pose nude in a nationally distributed magazine, but the effects of the decision should be worth it.

All photos courtesy of ESPN.com.