But Stokke welcomed the Pilot, once again, to tell her story. And when she spoke, it was evident that Stokke's opinion of her situation was not the only thing that had changed.
A calm, mature, authoritative and happy Stokke has embraced, albeit reluctantly, her somewhat-high profile.
"I don't want it to be superficial," she said. "I don't want to be the sex symbol of pole vaulting. I want to be the one that's good, and have the whole package, if anything."
Stokke didn't have the luxury of choice about when or how her countenance would be used. She lost all autonomy before it even occurred to her that her looks afforded her any, and she was forced to adapt to that reality.
Still, Stokke, who will vault for UC Berkeley, finds the humor in her circumstances. On a recent family cruise in the Mediterranean, a man from Australia recognized her, and a California frat boy.
"There's weird ones," Stokke said laughing. "A guy came up to me, and he was like, 'you're that pole vaulter girl, aren't you? Me and my frat watch your video every night.'"
Stokke's regained some control; she said she's gotten undisclosed endorsement offers, though she can't accept them as long as she's an NCAA athlete.
It will be shameful if the future of women's sports continues down the path Stokke was pushed into following, where attractive girls, far from real adulthood, are coerced into the spotlight long before they are ready for it because the public assumes it has the right to ogle.
If judging female athletes on their looks — an already deplorable practice — is here to stay, then it should remain the way it was, ante-Stokke. The athletes, not anyone else, decide when and how they'll be judged.
"Women want their accomplishments to be talked about, not just their looks," King said. "We're just like the guys, in a way. We want our accomplishments to be stated."
SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.
