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Maye Musk covers Sports Illustrated Swimsuit at 74: 'Women in their 70s are gorgeous'

The model and mother of billionaire Elon Musk marvels at becoming a swimsuit cover star.
Elon Musk and Maye Musk
Elon Musk and Maye Musk attend the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2 in New York.Theo Wargo / WireImage

Maye Musk is “living the life” at 74 years old.

That’s what the model on the cover of the 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue told the publication while posing for beachside pics in Belize.

"I feel fantastic," Musk said. "I love the photos. I love the energy of the whole team. If I thought I could be a swimsuit model for Sports Illustrated, people would have locked me away as a crazy lady. And now here I am!"

The dietitian, author, fashion model and mother to billionaire business magnate Elon Musk marveled about the honor and about the direction her life has taken as a model who's amassed more success as the years have passed

"Who knew that in my late 60s and 70s, I would be booked because I’m Maye Musk and a model?" she said. "I never thought I would be walking in New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week. I’ve been through the hard times, and now I’m living the life — I mean, I really am."

And she hopes people are paying attention to that fact as they gaze at her SI Swimsuit cover.

She is an uncontainable force, and she’s the most fearless woman I’ve ever known.

Tosca Musk

"I’m very excited to let people know that women in their 70s are gorgeous," she said. 

Musk's daughter, filmmaker Tosca Musk, is just as excited about her mother's Sports Illustrated opportunity. But she's not surprised by it.

"In her years on this planet she’s earned two master’s degrees in nutrition science, won awards in the dietetics field, has been in countless fashion shows and editorials, and she’s even appeared in a Beyoncé video," Tosca raved in a piece she wrote about her mom for the magazine. "She is an uncontainable force, and she’s the most fearless woman I’ve ever known."

She added: "My whole life, I’ve seen my mom do everything. As a result I think I’ll always expect her to be able to do everything. Sometimes I wonder whether it’s time I start limiting those expectations, as she gets older. But then I look at her again, still unstoppable, and I think, 'Not yet.'" 

Maye Musk, who wears an orange-and-cream one-piece from designer Maygel Coronel on the cover of the magazine's 59th swimsuit issue, is one of four women celebrated with their own covers this year.

Related: Leyna Bloom, the 1st trans model of color in Sports Illustrated swimsuit’s issue, on breaking barriers

According to the publication, fellow cover stars Kim Kardashian, singer Ciara and model Yumi Nu join Musk to "headline one of the most diverse issues in the magazine’s history," one that doesn't reinforce one single standard of beauty.

“The journey we’ve been on — to break out of the mold the world put us in — may sound familiar,” said Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editor-in-Chief MJ Day. “It’s certainly familiar to the women we’ve chosen to be our cover models: Maye, Ciara, Yumi, Kim. So in this issue, we encourage readers to see these models as we see them: multifaceted, multitalented — and sexy while they’re at it.”