Ten technology facts about the London Olympics

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Billions have been invested in an attempt to make sure the London games run smoothly.

The Olympics will be the biggest event ever hosted in Britain Photo: AP

Atos, one of the tech firms providing the huge power, communications and computing and infrastructure that will be crucial to the games' success has compiled a list of ten technology facts:

1. Over four billion of us are expected to tune in to watch our favourite athletes perform on TV – over two thirds of the world's population.

2. The Technology Operations Centre unveiled this week is the technology ‘Mission Control’ for London 2012 – it oversees the results, IT security, power and telecommunications for all 94 Olympic venues.

3. The Technology Operations Centre will be staffed by 450 people working 24/7 under one roof to keep all 94 Olympic competition and non-competition venues running smoothly.

4. 200,000 hours - or 23.5 years’ - worth of testing will be carried out on the IT systems before the games start, to simulate and prepare for every possible scenario. To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of 8,333 days’ work.

5. For the first time ever, commentators will have touch-screen Commentator Information System technology for every single Olympic Games sports - delivering real-time results high speed. Ten more sports have been added to the system compared to Beijing 2008. London 2012 will also be the first Summer Paralympic Games to use this Commentator Information System, with five sports added to the system.

6. If the British summer is playing up, we could take a tip from the Chinese – who shot weather rockets into the sky to stop rain clouds soaking the audience and spoiling the party at the Opening Ceremony!

7. London 2012 will be a greener, more sustainable Olympic Games. A special plant will supply electricity, heat and chilled water to the London 2012 Olympic Park using technology which produces 33 per cent lower CO2 emissions than from the electricity grid.

8. The Technology Operations Centre at London 2012 will also be able to process 30 per cent more results data than Beijing 2008 to meet the rapidly increasing demands of fans for information anytime and everywhere.

9. You can leave the cash at home! London 2012 offers people the chance to attend without cash but still pay, by using ‘contactless’ cards which will be swiped over a reader like an Oyster card to make payments. More than 5,000 retailers so far have signed up.

10. With 8.5 billion PCs, smart phones and tablets predicted to be connected to the internet by 2012, the London games are set to be the biggest ever online.

London 2012 Olympics, one year to go: live

There are 366 days to go until the London Olympics 2012, and this is going to be one of the busiest. We’ll keep you up to date with all that’s going on 

click here for the full blog: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/8664866/London-2012-Olympics-one-year-to-go-live.html

London 2012: Olympic medals timeline

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Medals have been presented to event winners and runners-up since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. For each host city, different medals are minted and the designs and sizes have changed through time. Explore them by clicking on the medals below.

• Summer Games
• Winter Games

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Pound coin to scale

 

London 2012

Thickness: 7mmDiameter: 85mmWeight: 400gQuantity: --Designer: David Watkins

The biggest Summer Olympics medals to date. Artist David Watkins says the key symbols on front and back juxtapose the goddess Nike, for the spirit and tradition of the Games, and the River Thames, for the city of London. On the back of the medals is the 2012 branding, representing the modern city as a jewel-like, geological growth. The logo is shown against a 'pick-up-sticks' grid which radiates the energy of athletes and a sense of pulling together. The River Thames runs through the middle as a celebratory ribbon. The bowl-like background recalls ancient amphitheatres, with a square balancing the circle to give a sense of place. The sport and discipline is engraved on the rim of each medal, all of which will be produced by the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, South Wales.

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Let there be light: David Cameron sparks Olympic Stadium into life for the first time

By Daily Mail Reporter

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

 David Cameron marked a historic moment for Britain last night when he turned on the lights at London's 2012 Olympic Stadium for the first time.

The Prime Minister, flanked by London Mayor Boris Johnson and Games organising chief Lord Coe, pushed the button to switch on the floodlights during a special ceremony at the snow-covered stadium.

It was the first time that all 532 bulbs had been lit together - in a scene that will be repeated during the 2012 Games.

Light show: The Olympic Stadium floodlights are officially switched on by Prime Minister David Cameron

Mr Cameron joked that the £537million stadium in Stratford, east London, looked more like a winter Olympic venue with ski-jumper Eddie the Eagle expected at any moment rather than the setting for the London 2012 summer Games.

But he told the 400-strong invited crowd, which included 2012 builders and a choir of local schoolchildren, at the site that 'the biggest show on earth' will be coming to east London in one year, seven months and seven days.

'It is being delivered on time and on budget thanks to British genius and many of the people here,' he added.


Introductions were carried out by Mr Johnson, who did not seem aware that the lights take up to eight minutes to reach full power.


'They are coming, they are coming,' he told the crowd before all the lights had phased in.

Biggest show on earth: Mr Cameron spoke to schoolchildren alongside London Mayor Boris Johnson who couldn't find anywhere to sit inside the stadium which was covered in snow

 
He described it as a 'wonderful and historic evening', while also joking that with plans so advanced, including 75 per cent of building work complete, London 2012 might consider holding a snap Olympics now 17 months before the Games 'to catch the world napping'.

There are 14 lighting towers reaching 70m (230ft) above the sports area.
Mr Cameron also spoke of changes to unpopular plans to cut £162million from school sport.

Earlier, the Education Department announced it will fund School Sport Partnerships to the end of the summer term 2011 at a cost of £47million, ensuring they can run until the end of the academic year.

Waiting game: The Olympic Stadium is set to be fully delivered next year for completion

Works goes on... The stadium is currently ahead of schedule leading Mr Cameron to joke London should hold a snap Olympics to 'catch the world napping'

A further £65million has been earmarked to enable every secondary school to release one PE teacher for a day a week in the school year 2011-12 and in 2012-13. This recognises the considerable impact the current network of School Sport Co-ordinators have had on PE and school sport throughout the country over the past decade.
The Department also announced it will fund the Youth Sport Trust (YST) to expand its Young Ambassadors programme so that every secondary school and some primary schools can create more Young Ambassadors ahead of London 2012.
The Government also restated its commitment to a nationwide school sport competition.

Once finished the Olympic Stadium will dominate the skyline in the east of the the capital

New pictures show London is on track for 2012 Olympics

By Daily Mail Reporter
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

When Delhi hosted the Commonwealth Games in October, they cut preparations so fine that they were still laying turf in the athletics stadium hours before events were due to start.

Tied in with a bridge collapse and filthy conditions in the athletes’ village the games looked destined to be remembered more for events off the track rather than on it.

But, as these newly released aerial photos of the London 2012 site show, it appears there will be no such panic when the capital hosts the games.

Taking shape: The Olympic stadium, the centre-piece of the park, is nearing completion - with seats installed and the outline of the track clearly visible

Bird's eye view: The rest of the city stretches into the background as the stadium and aquatics centre dominate the Stratford skyline

Regeneration: The entire Olympic Park and beyond can be seen here, with the media and broadcast centre in the foreground and various venues nearing completion

Eighteen months before competiton gets underway, nearly 75 per cent of construction is now complete, with main venues due to be finished next year ahead of test events.

The pictures were released to tie in with another half-yearly inspection by the International Olympic Committee Co-ordination Commission for London.

Already, from the outside at least, buildings including the media centre, handball and basketball arenas are looking complete.

Distinctive: The iconic roof of the aquatics centre may appear complete, but the scaffolding suggests otherwise

Speed freak: Great Britain will hope to build on its cycling success in the velodrome

And the athletes’ village, the source of so many problems in Delhi, already appears to be catching up with the Indian capital as the high-rise blocks which will house an estimated 10,500 athletes take shape.

Inside the showpiece stadium in Stratford, east London, seats are already installed in some parts while the outline of the track and field can be seen clearly in the mud.

However the curtain wrap that was expected to encase the stadium will now no longer form part of the construction.

Elsewhere, the curved roofs of the velodrome and aquatics centre stand out on the skyline, although the scaffolding around the pool shows there is still work to be done.

Slam dunk: The basketball arena, with its squidgy looking exterior, already appears ready for players and officials

Copper load of this: The roof of the handball arena has been made out of the metal

Speaking about the project, Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman John Armitt said: 'This year is the toughest in terms of construction and we are at our busiest.

‘We will enter 2011 with the confidence that more than three quarters of the construction project is complete and that all milestones to date have been achieved.

‘We remain on schedule and within budget but are not complacent about the challenge that lies ahead.’

Despite their still being some way to go with construction on some parts of the Olympic Park, the latest A-Z of the capital has included the 500-acre site in its pages.

The new map of the east end site shows the aquatics centre, velodrome and main stadium as well as updated rail links at Stratford international.

Home to the athletes: Like a small town springing up, the competitors' village will house around 10,500 participants during the Games

And London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe said: ‘East London is being transformed. Its regeneration is creating a legacy of new communities, new housing, and state-of-the-art sporting facilities that will be used for many years to come.

‘Over the next year, we look forward to seeing the changing London skyline as the Park vision become a reality.’

On the map: The new edition of the London A-Z clearly shows the Olympic Park's 500-acre site

The inspectors will be in the capital between Wednesday and Friday, and with the venues in good shape, are expected to concentrate on the huge amount of operational detail such as ticketing, transport, culture and volunteers as well as the test events.

They will also look for reassurances that the changes to the marathon route are now in place and that organisers are trying to patch up relations with East End councils.

The decision to move the end of the marathon from the Olympic Stadium to the Mall in central London was done with the blessing of the IOC, but Tower Hamlets council is seeking a judicial review of the decision to change the route which has led to their borough missing out.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330290/London-2012-Olympics-New-pictures-stadiums-nearly-ready.html#ixzz15f7PjV8k

South Africa to make 2020 Olympic bid

Soccer City in Johannesburg could host the Olympic Games in 2020

South Africa hopes to follow up its hosting of the football World Cup by staging the Olympics after confirming it plans to bid for the 2020 Games.

The country's Olympic committee has invited potential host cities to "state their intention of being involved".

Organisers hope that the success of this year's World Cup will help lead to the first Olympics on African soil.

The International Olympic Committee has yet to begin the selection process but a host is set to be named in mid-2013.

Other cities who have expressed an interest in bidding are Budapest in Hungary, Busan in South Korea, this year's Commonwealth Games hosts Delhi in India, while Taiwan, Dubai and Italy are also expected to bid.

Cape Town beat off competition from Durban and Johannesburg for the South African bid to host the 2004 Games but was well beaten into third place in the overall campaign by Athens.

"Our intention is to provide a world-class city capable of hosting Africa's first Olympic Games in 2020," said Sascoc chief executive Tubby Reddy.

The move comes after President Jacob Zuma publicly declared the World Cup a success and expressed confidence that South Africa could do a similarly excellent job in 2020.

"For our eyes to be on 2020, we are not weary, because we have the facilities," he said.

IOC president Jacques Rogge met with Zuma in South Africa over the weekend and attended Sunday's World Cup final at Soccer City.

"From the start, when South Africa were named as World Cup hosts, we all knew the country would be able to organise the tournament," said Rogge on Monday.

"Now it is up to you as a nation to decide if you want to host this [the Olympics] event."

South Africa built several new stadiums for the World Cup, while infrastructure improvements in transport, energy and communications also took place.

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Britain's biggest piece of public art, but is this £19m tower of twisted metal a fitting monument for the London 2012 Olympics?

By Paul Harris

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

It looks like a catastrophic collision between two cranes on the Olympic site.

But this towering, twisted mass of metal will be Britain's lasting monument to the nation's role in hosting the 2012 games.

Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor unveiled his design for the £19million sculpture yesterday, a ruby red, helter skelter-style structure that, at 377ft, will stand more than twice as tall as Nelson's column.

Scroll down for our video report

Enlarge

Landmark: The tower has been dubbed the 'Hubble Bubble' by London Mayor Boris Johnson

It was instantly nicknamed the Eyeful Tower - and likened enthusiastically by London Mayor Boris Johnson to a giant 'hubble-bubble' shisha pipe.

But contributors to Twitter and similar internet sites took only minutes to criticise the work. One described it as 'a rollercoaster that costs £19million a go'. Other early phrases included 'twisted spaghetti', 'horrific squiggles' and 'Meccano on crack'.

Work on the officially-named ArcelorMittal Orbit, which will house a restaurant and viewing platform, has yet to start - and it still needs planning permission.

About 700 visitors an hour will be able to visit the site next to the 193 feet high Olympic stadium. The tower will have a viewing platform and an outdoor walkway.

At its unveiling today, Kapoor, 56, said it was 'thrilling' to be offered the chance to create for the capital something on a par with what Gustave Eiffel made in Paris

Enlarge

Britian's biggest piece of public art: At 115 metres high, the steel tower will be taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York

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'It would be terribly arrogant to compete with Eiffel who spent his entire life making that thing,' said Kapoor. 'What we’re trying to make is the best thing we can do'.

The artist sees his looping, deep red-coloured tower as 'an eccentric structure that looks as if it’s going to fall over'.

It is being created with the aid of Cecil Balmond, deputy chairman of Arup engineers, with whom Kapoor created the red trumpet, Marsyas, for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2002.

Financing deals have been signed between principal backer Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate who is the fifth richest man in the world, who has committed £16million towards the £19.1million cost, and Mr Johnson, who dreamed up the project.

Bemused: Boris Johnson tries to make sense of the tower, which he likened to a shisha pipe

It is hoped work will begin within weeks on what officially will be called the ArcelorMittal Orbit.

Mr Johnson said: 'Some will say we are nuts - in the depths of a recession - to be building Britain’s biggest ever piece of public art.

'But Tessa Jowell [the Olympics minister] and I are certain that this is the right thing for the Stratford site, in Games time and beyond.'

Mr Mittal, whose company will supply much of the 1,400 tons of steel, said he had wanted to give 'a lasting gift' to the 'wonderful” city' where he has lived since 1997.

Amusing: Businessman Lakshmi Mittal (right) jokes with Mr Johnson at City Hall before unveiling a scale model of the proposed ArcelorMittal Orbit tower

Towering: Architect Anish Kapoor with the scale model of the tower. The full-size structure will be sited next to the Olympic stadium for the 2012 games

Passing the Torch: An Evolution of Form

By LEE BYRON and ALICIA DeSANTIS |
From: http://www.nytimes.com/

Click above for a cool interactive infographic

Source: I.O.C./Olympic Museum Collections

Pole Dancers Thrust for Olympic Status

By Kyle Munzenrieder
From: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/

via Crave Online

​
The Winter Olympics may be getting dismal local ratings, but if the pleas of poll dancers across the world to have their "sport" recognized by the Olympics are heeded, we've got a feeling ratings would shoot through the roof.

"After a great deal of feedback from the pole dance community, many of us have decided that it's about time pole fitness is recognized as a competitive sport, and what better way for recognition than to be part of the 2012 Olympics held in London," British pole dancer KT Coates writes in an email to the Associated Press.

Apparently top pole dancers train like Olympic athletes, and once you remove the g-strings and sweaty dollar bills, is it really that much different than things like ice dancing and rhythmic gymnastics?

Pole dancing has taken off as a fitness craze lately, too, but even though there is a U.S. Pole Dance Federation which hosts championships (which, hello, Miami really needs to work on hosting someday) there's still a need to standardize scoring and technique.

Pulling off an Elevated Booty Clap might net you big points in Miami, but places like Los Angeles tend to value moves like the Fake Titty Twister 360.

Plus, the AP article doesn't even breech whether or not the competition would be open to both sexes (maybe Johnny Weir can win Gold after all...)

We doubt we'll see it in the Olympics anytime soon. Just like we doubt we'll ever see Miami ever host an Olympics, but if that ever does happen we sure as hell wouldn't mind seeing it at least featured as an exposition sport.

Japan's atomic cities bid for 2020 Olympics

Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki hope to use nuclear weapons ban as bait

CBC Sports

Hiroshima's Atomic Bomb Dome would be one of the historic centrepieces if the city were to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. (Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press)

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are launching a joint bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima and Nagasaki's Tomihisa Taue are founding members of the Mayors for Peace 2020 Campaign, advocating for a global ban on nuclear arms, and they want to use that to springboard the world's largest sporting event into their two cities.

The Japanese cities were the site of the 1945 atomic bombings that closed out the Second World War in the Pacific.

"The Olympics symbolize the abolition of nuclear arms and world peace, and we want to work to realize our plan to host the games," Akiba said.

Hiroshima's mayor spoke last month in Mexico City, saying he firmly believed the world could abolish nuclear weapons by 2020. He suggested his city and Nagasaki could hold the Games that year to celebrate.

The mayors' announcement comes just over a week after Tokyo lost in its bid for the 2016 Games to Rio de Janeiro.

There is no word yet as to whether Tokyo will try for the Olympics again in 2020. Only one city from each country can bid.

Competition for the Games is expected to come from Delhi, Istanbul and Budapest. All three cities have already expressed interest in submitting a bid to host the Olympics.

Although the two cities that the United States dropped nuclear bombs on share a tragic bond, they are quite a distance apart on a map. Hiroshima is in western Japan, about 650 kilometres from Tokyo. Nagasaki is on the island of Kyushu, roughly 320 kilometres from its fellow Olympic aspirant.

Hiroshima has held a large-scale event before, hosting the 1994 Asian Games. The competition brought 7,300 athletes from 42 countries and regions to western Japan.

While the Japanese Olympic Committee praised the two cities for their enthusiasm, they felt that it would take far more than simply a message of world peace to be successful in their bid for the Games.

"The concept to host the Olympics is wonderful," Japanese Olympic Committee secretary general Noriyuki Ichihara said, according to the Kyodo news agency.

"But I believe it would be difficult for the IOC to accept it just on the basis of abolishing nuclear weapons."

With files from The Associated Press

2016 Olympic Announcement: Rio de Janeiro to Host Summer Games

By Michael David Smith

Rio de Janeiro has been chosen as the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics, beating Madrid in the final round of voting.

Rio's bid will mark the first time the Olympics will take place in South America.

Rio beat out Madrid -- considered something of a long shot -- after potential front-runner Chicago was eliminated from contention earlier this afternoon. Most people in Chicago believed that President Obama and Oprah Winfrey's support for the games in the Windy City would help to propel it to selection.

However, Chicago was dropped from the list and Daly Plaza in downtown is now a very somber scene and very much unlike the attitude in Rio you see above.

"I've never really had a disappointment like this," said Ken Rudd, a 33-year-old salesman from Evergreen Park. "This is one of the saddest things I've ever seen."

Katie Suitor, a 28-year-old social worker, was equally surprised, saying that she had already signed up to work as a volunteer for the games.

"I was looking forward to having the world come and see just how great Chicago is," she said.

In Rio, the celebrations are beyond abundant: people and music streaming through the streets, many of the residents going shirtless as they enjoy the national recognition and attention that their city will receive.

In fact, the "Carnival Part Two" is so loud that CNN's correspondents have had to evacuate from the Copacabana Beach in order for the US bound studio hosts to hear them.

Copacabana was immediately filled with glitter, Brazilian flags and "absolute euphoria" upon the announcement.

Rio had pushed hard for a long time to receive the Olympic bid, with Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urging the Olympic Committee to give South America its first ever shot at the international games.

"It is a time to address this imbalance," Silva said. "It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country."

The Olympic Committee apparently believed Silva's pleas to be strong enough, and awarded Rio the chance to showcase itself on an international stage.

President Obama, speaking on Air Force One while returning to Washington, stated that he was "quite disappointed" with the committee's rejection of Chicago's Olympic bid.Olm

History lesson: 10 things you might not know about the Olympics

On Friday, the International Olympic Committee will decide whether the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics will be Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid or Rio de Janeiro. Here are 10 facts about the five-ring circus:

1. Olympic sites are chosen by secret ballot, so we're not sure how London beat Paris for the 2012 Summer Olympics. But some blame French President Jacques Chirac, who insulted Britain before the vote by saying, "After Finland, it's the country with the worst food." France's bid wasn't getting British support anyway, but Finland had two IOC members, and some speculate that they were swing votes in the 54-50 outcome.

2. Tug-o-war made its last appearance as an Olympic sport in 1920.

3. Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, decreed in his will that his heart be sent to the site of ancient Olympia in Greece, where it is kept in a monument. The rest of him was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland.

4. Chicago was supposed to host the 1904 Olympics, but St. Louis stole it away. The Games were a fiasco. Only 14 of 32 participants finished the marathon, which was held in 90-degree heat with a single water well at the 12-mile mark. Cuban marathoner Felix Carvajal, who lost his money in a craps game in New Orleans, hitchhiked to St. Louis and ran the race in street shoes. He stopped to chat with spectators and to steal apples from an orchard but still finished fourth. American Fred Lorz dropped out after nine miles, rode in a car for 11, then rejoined the race and crossed the finish line first, quickly admitting his hoax. The prize went to American Thomas Hicks, whose supporters gave him strychnine (a stimulant in low doses) and brandy -- the first known use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympics.

5. French athletes bent the rules at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics: Despite Prohibition, they were allowed wine with their meals.

6. George Patton, who would later become a famous U.S. general, competed in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics pentathlon, an event combining pistol shooting, swimming, fencing, cross country and steeplechase. Patton performed poorly in his best event -- pistols -- but shined in fencing, defeating the French army champion. Old Blood and Guts finished fifth overall, the only non-Swede to make the top seven.

7. The greatest star of the 1936 Berlin Olympics was the 10th child born to an Alabama sharecropper family named Owens. But he was not born with the name Jesse. He was called James Cleveland Owens, and as a child moved to his namesake city -- Cleveland. A teacher asked his name, and he said "J.C." The teacher thought he said "Jesse," and the boy was too polite to disagree. ( Mayor Richard Daley often cites Owens in pushing Chicago's bid, and indeed Owens was a Chicagoan, but only late in life. A dozen years after the Olympics, Owens settled here, and he is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery on the South Side.)

8. Another great Olympian with Chicago ties was Johnny Weissmuller, the winner of five gold medals in swimming who later starred as Tarzan in the movies. Weissmuller swam brilliantly in the 1924 and '28 Olympics -- and also in the waters off Chicago's North Avenue Beach on a stormy day in July 1927. Weissmuller was training on the lakefront with his brother Peter when a sudden storm swamped the pleasure boat Favorite. The disaster killed 27 of the 71 people aboard -- mostly women and children -- but the Weissmuller brothers rescued 11 people.

9. No boxing was held at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics because the sport was illegal in Sweden.

10 . A study of the 2004 Athens Olympics found that athletes who wore red while competing in "combat sports" such as wrestling scored higher than opponents wearing blue.



SOURCES: "Historical Dictionary of the Modern Olympic Movement," edited by John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle; "The Complete Book of the Olympics" by David Wallechinsky; "General Patton: A Soldier's Life" by Stanley Hirshson; "Johnny Weissmuller: Twice the Hero" by David Fury; " Jesse Owens: An American Life" by William J. Baker; The Wall Street Journal; Tribune news services

Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

Allison Stokke the Hottest Athlete? Google it

We often hear people discussing who the hottest athlete is, and moreso who the hottest female athlete is. Based on what we're hearing, the current athletic phenomenon is Allison Stokke. So is Allison Stokke the hottest female athlete? According to google she's worth TWO pictures.

Stokke's Stats

• Height: 5ft. 3in
• Position: Pole Vault
• Experience: 1V
• Class: Sophomore
• Hometown: Newport Beach, Cali
• High School: Newport Harbor HS

One day Allison Stokke was a just a pretty high school athlete and the next she was an international Internet destination, although not by her own choice. Miss Stokke's photograph was taken during a high school track meet, where she was preparing to compete in the pole vault, and someone posted it to a web site. It didn't take long for other less reputable sites to pick up the image and set off a round of Stokke-mania on the worldwide web.

Miss Stokke isn't just a pretty girl; she's a pretty girl who happens to be a tremendous athlete. She was the California pole vaulting champion and is on scholarship at the University of California. She wanted to be known for her athletic accomplishments rather than purely for her looks. In terms of athletics, she wanted to be seen as Maria Sharapova, an attractive tennis player who wins, instead of Anna Kournikova, an attractive tennis player who just shows up and looks pretty. Miss Stokke could eventually become another Natalie Gulbis, a gorgeous LPGA golfer who has been quite successful.

Interview with Allison Stokke

The problem began to surface in 2004 when she began to receive messages from her friends that her photo had been seen on the Internet. She had 1,000 new messages on her social network site and a YouTube video of her being interviewed had been viewed 15,000 times. She began to receive interview requests from around the country, including one from Brazil. She went to her coach for help and to her parents (her father is an attorney) for guidance. They soon realized there was little they could do to stem the flow of messages and photos, other than to focus on trying to stop the ones that were particularly tasteless. They were successful in getting a fake profile of Allison removed from Facebook and another taken off MySpace, which included a slideshow with a dozen photos and a chat forum. She told the Washington Post, "Even if none of it is illegal, it just all feels really demeaning."

The image that started it all

There's no question that Miss Stokke is an amazing athlete. Born in Newport Beach, California, she made the U.S. team that competed in the 2005 World Youth Championships, but couldn't compete because of a broken leg. As a senior at Newport Harbor High School she jumped 13 feet, 7 inches, which ranked second in the nation. She held seven national records.

As a freshman at Cal, Miss Stokke set a school freshman record by vaulting 13-5¾ at the Pac-10 Championships. She also qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships and was ranked No. 20 in the country. In the outdoor season she jumped 13-9¾, the second-best performance in school history.

But because of her notoriety, Miss Stokke hasn't been able to enjoy her success. She rarely leaves her home and has grown weary of the attention she's garnered. In fact, the online media information on the Cal website does not include her mug shot, while all other student-athletes have their images on their biography pages.

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