Vaulter Allison Stokke’s career with one innocent picture
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 second place on the national ranking for high school athletes.
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.
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.
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.
Stokke couldn’t wait to leave her high school career behind. She was eager to start a new chapter in her life, but how easy would this be after all this negative press? She initially waited for offers from talent scouts but ended up making her own path.
Ultimately, she decided to attend the Berkely University of California. Stokke was offered an athletics scholarship and would get to train with one of the most well-respected coaches in the business: Scott Clover. During her years at Berkely, she trained hard to reach her former levels of success.
Allison Stokke broke the freshman record for the school with a great jump measuring 4,11 metres. This was followed by placing eighth at the Pac-10 Championships, and a seventh-place at the MPSF Indoor Championships. All this lead to Stokke debuting with the NCAA Women’s Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where she reached a nineteenth position in the final rankings. Stokke evidently worked hard for her success, but whether this was enough…
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