Disturbing Turn
Allison Stokke drew national attention for her record-breaking pole vaulting career, but soon she would experience a type of attention that would shock her to her core. This was a kind of attention that no one on earth had previously experienced. In 2007, the high school athlete’s popularity skyrocketed for something completely unrelated to her athletic performance, but instead for something many people would consider disturbing.
The controversy would last for years, and it would come to define the life of Allison Stokke. People across the world would come to know her name, but not for the right reasons. While she was indeed an athlete before — a record-setting pole vaulter, in fact. But now, she was a target.