Jordan Chiles once thought she was 'ugly.' Now she's proud to be SI Swimsuit cover model
U.S. and UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles is a two-time Olympian and three-time NCAA individual champion.
She looks completely comfortable in her own skin as she's performing a floor routine to music by empowering artists like Beyoncé and proudly displaying the more than 20 "amazing art pieces" she has tattooed on her body.
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For much of Chiles' life, however, the body that helped propel her to athletic greatness made her feel "ugly" and self-conscious. But when she first saw photos of herself as a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, "I literally started bawling my eyes out," Chiles recently told People magazine.
Chiles said her mother, Gina, reacted similarly.
"My mom actually cried a few times from some of the photos because she's been there literally every single moment of my life," Chiles said, "so I think it was more of her realizing how beautiful her daughter is and what I've gone through.
"She was there when I would cry and be like, 'Mom, they're saying this. They're saying that.' Or I would look at myself in the mirror and call myself ugly almost every day. I think it was just really cool for her to know that I get this opportunity and that I get the ability to embrace who Jordan is."
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Chiles was a member of the U.S. Olympic squads that won team silver at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and team gold at the Paris Games last summer. Chiles was also awarded her first individual Olympic medal, a bronze in the floor exercise, in Paris but it was taken away because of a technicality.
Read more: Jordan Chiles continues to fight for her Olympic bronze medal while leading UCLA gymnastics
At UCLA, Chiles won two national titles in the uneven bars (2023, 2025) and one on the floor (2023). She also finished second in the all-around competition in 2023 and helped the Bruins to a second-place overall finish this year. Chiles has already announced she will return to Westwood next year for her senior season.
When the 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue hits newsstands on Saturday, Chiles will be one of four models appearing on her own cover (Olivia Dunne, Salma Hayek Pinault and Lauren Chan are the others). As opposed to how she felt looking at her own reflection years ago, Chiles said she is "in awe" after seeing herself on the front of the iconic magazine.
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"I've embraced every single aspect of who I am and I've embraced the amazing body that I have," Chiles said.
Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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