Brit gymnast Louis Smith bares all for cancer charity

London, June 8 (ANI): Olympic gymnast Louis Smith has become a pin-up for the London 2012 Olympics, for the sake of charity.

The 21-year-old from Peterborough, who won bronze on the pommel horse at the Beijing Olympics, shows off his toned physique as he strips off for this month's Cosmopolitan magazine.

The 2006 Commonwealth champion joins other male Olympic hopefuls from Team GB who have posed naked to raise awareness of the Everyman Appeal, the Daily Mail reported.

Cyclist Ben Swift, 400m runner Conrad Williams, swimmer Nick Robinson-Baker and the GB hockey team are the other athletes who took their kit off for the shoot with photographer Antonio Petronzio.

Everyman is an appeal of The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) to raise funds for its pioneering research into male cancers. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in British men with 37,000 new cases diagnosed each year, while testicular cancer remains the most common cancer in men aged 15 to 44.

Cosmopolitan magazine have worked with Everyman to raise awareness via their centrefold spread for the past 11 years.

Previous centrefolds have included Lenny Kravitz, Ewan McGregor, Rupert Everett, Graham Norton, Jason Donovan and Ronan Keating.

"With thousands of men being diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK, women remain pivotal in encouraging men to be self aware," a spokesperson for the magazine said.

"Our centrefolds have consistently proven to be a fun yet effective way of raising awareness of this serious issue," the spokesperson added. (ANI)