Sports Illustrated is an American sports media franchise owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice. Its swimsuit issue, which has been published since 1964, is now an annual publishing event that generates its own television shows, videos and calendars.

Two other magazines named Sports Illustrated were started in the 1920s and 1930s, but they both quickly failed. Following these events, there was no large-base general sports magazine with a national following. It was then that Time patriarch Henry Luce began considering whether his company should attempt to fill that gap. At the time, many believed sports was beneath the attention of serious journalism and did not think sports news could fill a weekly magazine, especially during the winter. A number of advisers to Luce, including Life magazine's Ernest Havemann, tried to kill the idea, but Luce, who was not a sports fan, decided the time was right.

Emily Ratajkowski (born April 27, 1992) is an American actress and model best known for playing the role of Tasha on the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly. To date she has appeared in the episodes "iSpeed Date" and "iEnrage Gibby" as the girlfriend of Gibby.

Prior to her two appearances on iCarly, Ratajkowski appeared as a model, and played obscure roles in the 2004 short film Andrew's Alteration and the 2005 indie film A Year and a Day.

Katherine "Kate" Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American model and actress known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, first in 2011, when she was named Rookie of the Year, and again in 2012, when she was announced as the cover model.

Upton was born in St. Joseph, Michigan and raised in Melbourne, Florida. She attended Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy. Her uncle is U.S. Representative Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan's 6th congressional district.

As a young equestrian, Upton showed at the American Paint Horse Association and competed on a national level. With her horse Roanie Pony, she won three APHA Reserve World Championships – 13 and Under Western Riding, 13 and Under Horsemanship, and 14–18 Western Riding. She was named the 13 and Under Reserve All-Around Champion, giving her a total of four reserve championships (2nd place). In addition, Upton ended up third overall on the APHA youth Top Twenty. With a second horse, Zipped, she won 14–18 Western Riding and was included in the top 5 in 14–18 Horsemanship and 14–18 Western Pleasure in 2009.

Brooklyn Danielle Decker (born April 12, 1987) is an American fashion model and actress best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, including the cover of the 2010 issue. In addition to working for Victoria's Secret for the 2010 "Swim" collection, she has ventured into television with guest appearances on Chuck, Ugly Betty, and Royal Pains. She made her feature film debut in Just Go with It, and later starred in Battleship and What to Expect When You're Expecting. Decker is also known for her marriage to tennis player Andy Roddick.

Decker was born in Kettering, Ohio, the daughter of Tessa (née Moore), a nurse, and Stephen Decker, a pacemaker salesman. She has one brother, Jordan, who is three years younger. She and her family moved to Middletown, Ohio, then to Matthews, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. She was discovered in a Charlotte shopping mall as a teenager. Decker began her modeling career as the face of Mauri Simone, a popular prom dress maker. She won the 2003 Model of the Year award at the Connections Model and Talent Convention. In a January 2011 interview with Self magazine, Decker stated that she suffered from an eating disorder and states, "My father did an intervention and got me to stop obsessing about everyone else and wrecking my body."

Irina Shayk (sometimes credited as Irina Sheik, born Irina Shaykhlislamova on January 6, 1986 in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia) is a Russian model known for her 2007 through 2012 appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was the cover model for the 2011 issue.

Shayk was born in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia. She says she inherited her unusual looks from her father and she has said that people often think she is South American. “My father was dark skinned, because he was Tatar, sometimes Tatars can look Brazilian,” she says. “I get my light eyes from my mother.” Shayk’s mother was a pianist who was the music teacher in a kindergarten and her father was a coal miner. She has one sibling, an older sister named Tatiana. Shayk started playing piano at age six. At age nine she enrolled in a music school and studied there for seven years, both playing the piano and singing in the choir since her mother wanted her to study music. Her father died of complications of pneumonia when she was 14, leaving her family with little money and forcing her mother to work two jobs to provide for the family.