When she was seventeen, one of her pictures went viral
Allison Stokke has made a name for herself as a gifted pole vaulter and fitness model, but this hasn’t always been the case. When she was just seventeen years old, she went viral, and not for reasons of her own choosing.
Famous in sports
When you’re an athlete, you obviously want to be famous simply for being the best, preferably without any scandals or negativity related to your private life. Athletes are all about sports, hard work, and talent. Still, athletes may run into situations that turn their entire lives upside down, leading them to garner fame for all the wrong reasons. This is exactly what happened to Allison Stokke when she was seventeen years old when an innocent photo of her during a pole vaulting competition went viral. This picture almost ruined her life!
During her time in high school, Allison discovered her passion for pole vaulting. Even during her education, people had great expectations for her. There was even talk about pole vaulting at the absolute highest level and participating in prestigious tournaments. Ultimately, she got her place in the spotlight for vastly different reasons.
Hard work. That’s all Stokke focussed on, hoping to make a name for herself for her amazing athletic feats. When she’d only just started earning her marks in pole vaulting in 2004, she immediately reached huge success, as she broke a record with a jump measuring 3,86 metres. This achievement was the single highest jump ever by a fifteen year old American.
Of course, Stokke’s performance in 2004 was only a precursor to a very promising career. Despite this strong start, the career path she had in mind would turn out to be not quite so simple.
As a top athlete, your entire life revolves around working towards that one particular match or tournament. And when it’s done, you start all over again. The main difference being that expectations are even higher. The same held true for Stokke: while her 2004 record was very impressive, it was really only the beginning.
Stokke quickly lived up to those expectations. At the end of her first year in athletics, she won the CIF California State Championship, and this definitely wouldn’t be her last time reaching success. She exceeded great expectations, but would unknowingly also continue to course toward a turning point in her career.
Athleticism permits a lot of means to improve performance. The ever-ongoing striving for perfection and hard work, however, has a shadow side, and any setbacks may not make for an easy recovery. Stokke strived to better her previous record. She wanted to continue on her path and ended up breaking her personal record with a massive jump, reaching 4,11 metres. This end result garnered her high school another sports record in their name. Additionally, it was the best jump ever by a sixteen year old American.
After a few years of achievements and success, tides turned for Stokke. She experienced a massive setback, which led her to doubt her own safety while pole vaulting. Continue reading to find out what happened.
Despite the incredible success of her early career, Stokke’s health took a serious blow with an injury.
As they say: ‘The sky’s the limit.’ Many athletes live by this mantra, Stokke included. Would see her become one of the most successful pole vaulters in history. However, this success came to an abrupt halt due to an accident during practice.
During practice, our regional pole vaulting champion picked up a pole larger than she’d used up until that point. However, this didn’t end well.
Stokke got some serious air, but failed to reach the angle required to send her towards the landing platform. Instead, she hurtled back into the concrete launching platform. This was her first major setback.
Athletics require constant focus and apprehension. Anything could go wrong at any given time, and serious injuries could end your career in one blow. This is the exact type of fear Stokke must have experienced when she was diagnosed with a broken shin bone.
She had to undergo surgery, and the reigning state champion of California had to sit out the entire rest of the pole vaulting season. According to Stokke herself, she was incredibly disappointed, as she wanted to double her state titles.
Athletics require constant focus and apprehension. Anything could go wrong at any given time, and serious injuries could end your career in one blow. This is the exact type of fear Stokke must have experienced when she was diagnosed with a broken shin bone.
She had to undergo surgery, and the reigning state champion of California had to sit out the entire rest of the pole vaulting season. According to Stokke herself, she was incredibly disappointed, as she wanted to double her state titles.
The talented athlete ended her year and high school career with an incredible eighth spot at Junior Nationals. After getting recognition for this remarkable achievement, her career once again took a turn.
Life as a star means a life in the spotlight. This also holds true for top athletes. Image leaks continue to happen on a regular basis, and can deal serious damage to your image. After her amazing accomplishments at Junior Nationals, Stokke garnered a lot of national attention. However, this attention quickly took a slightly different turn.
Stokke’s athletic prowess was getting overshadowed by attention she wasn’t exactly keen on. Chances for her to reach fame for all the wrong reasons kept increasing, and would forever influence the career of this young athlete.
The picture
Media will always have a massive influence on how we get to see certain images. This would also pose a serious risk to Stokke’s image. During a tournament in New York City, a journalist took a picture of the young athlete. The image got posted online and was all about what Stokke wanted to be known for: her pole vaulting talent. However, when the image got into the wrong hands, it took on a whole different meaning.
Allison Stokke had only just turned 18, and garnered some attention for the wrong reasons. Sports blogger Matt Ufford got his hands on the innocent picture for his blog With Leather. This blog was known for its disconcerting views on female athletes, with very little regard for their actual athletic achievements. As soon as Matt got his grubby hands on the pictures, he turned his attention to her and posted an article titled “Pole Vaulting is Sexy, Barely Legal”. It quickly went viral.
Worrying
This was a nightmare come true for Stokke. She’d only just turned eighteen years old, having only been seventeen when the unfortunate picture was taken. This rendered the article on Ufford’s blog even more worrying considering his main focus was the seventeen year old’s physical attractiveness. Additionally, commenters underneath the article took it even further with their often sexually charged commentary on Stokke’s body.
The popularity of the image combined with Ufford’s sexualising commentary and his readers’ comments were seen as rather worrying by many. Among those worried was the photographer who took the original picture. In an attempt to take back the power, the photographer threatened to sue Ufford if he refused to delete the picture.
However, this photographer’s efforts were too little, too late, as the picture had already spread to dozens of other sites. Suddenly, Stokke was no longer known for her pole vaulting talents. Instead of talking about her incredible achievements, many on the internet were now simply posting sexually charged comments regarding her looks at seventeen years old.
Adding even further insult to injury, a new website was quickly launched. This site was filled with pictures of Stokke, meant for an audience that had very little interest in her athletic skills. Additionally, several fan pages for Stokke were set up and the entire story snowballed even further when US media decided to report on the story. The fact that Stokke became the victim of something she had zero say in became very clear once she’d turn out to make headlines for all the wrong reasons
Media all over the world ended up reporting on the story. Stokke’s misfortune was used as a warning tale against the dangers of the internet. Strangers kept pestering her with messages requesting pictures. Ultimately, she ended up hiring a media consultant, to turn the focus back to her athletic achievements.
As Stokke’s father worked as a lawyer, he took it upon himself to look for ways to take legal measures. Unfortunately, none of the things that happened to Stokke would qualify as being illegal. Stokke has remarked the entire experience for her has largely been humiliating. She worried no one saw her as an athlete anymore. Instead, she’d become a sex symbol against her own will.
