Remember Allison Stokke? One photo changed her life forever, but not in the way you’d think. It made her an internet sensation for all the wrong reasons, and the story behind it is more emotional than you might imagine.
All elite athletes want to be recognized for their hard work, talent, and success.
But unfortunately, female athletes often have to face something much darker: objectification. One person who knows this better than most is former pole vaulter Allison Stokke.
Kirby Lee/WireImage
A few years ago, Allison was just an aspiring young athlete, working hard to better herself in her sport. But overnight, everything changed. What was meant to be a normal day turned into a nightmare as strangers began stalking her.
A huge talent
To truly understand why one photo turned Allison Stokke’s life into a nightmare, we need to go back a few years.
Born on March 22, 1989, in Newport Beach, California, Allison was raised in a sports-focused family. Her older brother, David, was a talented gymnast who competed at the national level. Allison herself tried gymnastics but quickly found her passion for pole vaulting.
Her career began in high school, and it didn’t take long for people to realize that she was no ordinary athlete. During her teenage years, Allison’s skills developed rapidly.
She won the U.S. title for her age group (15/16) in 2004, setting a championship record with a vault of 3.81 meters (12 feet 6 inches). During her freshman year, Stokke pushed herself to the limit, striving to improve both her skills and herself.
Wikipedia Commons / Avinash Kunnath
Soon, her hard work started to pay off.
She broke the American record for a high school freshman with a vault of 3.86 meters (12 feet 7¾ inches). The following year, she set a new high school sophomore record with a vault of 4.11 meters (13 feet 5¾ inches).
The nightmare begins
After breaking five national records, Allison earned a scholarship to the University of California. This was incredibly impressive, especially considering that Allison broke her tibia during training in 2005 and was forced to surgery.
In early 2007, something happened that would change Allison Stokke’s life forever. She was competing in New York when a journalist for a Californian track and field website snapped a photo of the 17–year–old athlete. The photo captured her waiting on the runway for her turn.
At the time, the journalist didn’t think much of it – it was just an ordinary shot, and it was later published on the website.
But things quickly took an unexpected turn. In May 2007, the photo was re-shared by With Leather, a popular sports blog with a large male following. The headline read ”Pole Vaulting is Sexy, Barely Legal,” and the article focused on Allison’s looks.
The photo wasn’t overtly sexual, but blogger Matt Ufford recognized its potential impact when he first saw it. He knew that his audience — readers drawn to comedy, opinions, and sometimes more provocative content — would be captivated by it.
That famous photo
Standing at 5-foot-7, Allison had smooth, olive-toned skin and a fit, athletic build.
In the photo, her vaulting pole rested on her right shoulder, while she appeared to be adjusting her ponytail. Her spandex uniform, consisting of black shorts and a white tank top, typical for a track athlete, revealed a small portion of her midriff.
To Ufford, Allison seemed like a “no brainer” to write about, as he explained to The Washington Post.
However, not everyone was pleased with the attention the photo garnered. The photographer, for instance, reached out and threatened to sue Matt Ufford’s site unless the image was removed.
But the attention surrounding Allison couldn’t be stopped.
The article went viral, drawing massive attention. It was reposted across various websites, and soon a tribute page dedicated to Allison Stokke popped up, featuring multiple images of her in action. As these images spread through social media, fan groups began to form, racking up thousands of followers.
Allison called a family meeting and showed them some of the websites.
”How did I feel? A mix of anger and concern,” her mother, Cindy, told LA Times.
A viral sensation without consent
The whole thing was a stark demonstration of the internet’s power to turn someone into an overnight sensation — without their consent.
Allison first learned about the viral image when a friend emailed her, letting her know that a photo of her fixing her hair at a track meet had exploded online.
This was before social media had truly taken off, but Allison still had a Myspace account. When she checked it, she found over 1,000 new messages waiting for her.
Soon, photos of Allison became an internet phenomenon, and major publications began covering her story, trying to make sense of how something like this could happen. CBS even gave her story television coverage, using it to highlight the dangers of the internet sexualizing young people.
Leave a Reply