How pole vaulter Allison Stokke’s career nearly ended because of one innocent picture
When she was eighteen, one of her pictures went viral
Allison Stokke is an American track and field athlete and fitness model from Newport Beach, California. She is best known for her pole vaulting skills and for being the subject of an internet meme. Stokke began competing in pole vaulting at the age of eleven. She quickly established herself as one of the top pole vaulters in the United States, becoming the US National Indoor Pole Vault Champion in 2004. She then went on to compete at the University of California, Berkeley, where she set the school record for pole vaulting.
In 2007, an image of Stokke at a pole vaulting meet became an internet sensation and a meme. The image spread quickly and was shared widely on websites such as Reddit, 4chan, and Tumblr. As a result, Stokke became a household name overnight. Despite the sudden fame, Stokke never stopped competing in pole vaulting. In 2012, she made the US Olympic Team and competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Today, Stokke is a successful fitness model and has appeared on the cover of several fitness magazines. She is also a spokesperson for several fitness brands and has her own activewear line
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 eighteen years old when an innocent photo of her during a pole vaulting competition went viral. This picture almost ruined her life!
Check out the next page to find out more on this shocking story.
High school
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.
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First record
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 succes, 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.
Find out on the next page how Stokke continued her career.
The path to success
Of course, Stokke’s performance in 2004 was only a precursor to 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.
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Expectations
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.
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Perfection
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.
New record
Stokke strived to better her previous record. She wanted to continu 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.
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A setback
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.
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Instruments
Athleticism is about more than just pure physical power. Ultimately, you have to know the tools of the trade in order to avoid any accidents. This would be a lesson Stokke learned the hard way.
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Injury
Despite the incredibly success of her early career, Stokke’s health took a serious blow with an injury.
As they say: ‘The sky is the limit.’ Many athletes live by this mantra, Stokke included. 2005 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.
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.
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Fractured shinbone
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.
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Rehabilitation
Recuperating from this injury was a long and arduous journey of four to six months. During this time period, Stokke grew increasingly worried about her career path.
However, the athlete quickly proved that it doesn’t matter how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up. She turned up at the CIF California State Meet, only to win the tournament, again besting her previous record with a jump measuring 4,14 metres. Additionally, her performance in this state tournament allowed her to rise to the second place on the national ranking for high school athletes.
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Junior Nationals
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.
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The wrong kind of attention
Life as a star means a life in the spotlights. 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.
As early as 2007, 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.
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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.
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