'be legendary'
Paige Spiranac featured on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit special anniversary cover
Just a month ago, Paige Spiranac teased “something legendary” as part of this year’s 60th Anniversary Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. "You guys know I would never steer you in the wrong direction,” Spiranac stated. Now that the cover has been officially released, we can’t say she was wrong.
Spiranac will grace 2024’s special cover, along with an abundance of models, athletes and stars over the years. The golf bombshell is joined by Brooklyn Decker, Chrissy Teigen, Christie Brinkley, Gayle King, Kate Upton, Martha Stewart, Megan Rapinoe, Sue Burd, Tyra Banks, Winnie Harlow and many, many more. It’s quite the cover and a hell of a celebration for the issue's 60th birthday.
"People will look at me and underestimate me,” Spiranac told Sports Illustrated. “I think that's actually what's so amazing about being a woman. It's people underestimating you and always being able to prove them wrong.
“I’m in a really interesting position in my career where I have done a lot of work within the golf community and am now branching out and doing more sports work. I wrote a children’s book called ‘Hattie Goes Golfing’ to hopefully inspire a bunch of young kids to get out and play.”
This is Spiranac’s second time in the Swimsuit issue after her “splashy” debut back in 2018. She ventured down to Aruba with photographer James Macari six years ago for the shoot.
This year’s cover photo was taken by Yu Tsai at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Orlando, Florida. “The Legends hold the power to represent the collective us,” said MJ Day, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editor-in-chief. “Each one has played a significant role in the brand’s last 10 years, holding important conversations that have helped shift societal perceptions and led to incredible change for women.”
Along with gracing the cover, Spiranac had a standalone photoshoot with Tsai as part of her work in changing “the stereotype about how women athletes should dress.”
On Mother’s Day, Spiranac posted a tribute to her mom in which she referenced her mother’s modeling days, "From being in front of the camera … to being behind the camera shooting my pictures.” When asked for her favorite quote by Sports Illustrated, Spiranac made sure to shout out her mother, Annette Spiranac, for her favorite quote: "[It] doesn’t matter if you are the ripest, juiciest, most delicious peach, there’s still gonna be people out there who don’t love peaches."
