Rickie Fowler's Wife Became a Successful Pole Vaulter & She Once Went Viral Because of a Photo

In his early career, Rickie Fowler was the only unmarried man on the pro-golf circuit, to the mockery of his peers and himself. His romantic luck changed when he met athlete Allison Stokke, who is his constant support system and occasional caddy.

Allison Stokke became the runway queen in her teens, not for fashion brands — that would come later — but in the athletic stadium. The once nationally ranked pole-vaulter is now married to golfer Rickie Fowler, with whom she has a daughter.

As a teenager, she experienced the misogyny many conventionally attractive sportswomen face by being celebrated for her physique and not the mastery of her sport. She turned down a spread in Maxim and focused firmly on her athletic goals.

Allison Stokke Is a Record-Breaking Pole-Vaulter

ESPN reports that Stokke took up pole vaulting after she grew too tall for gymnastics. According to a Slate report, the average female gymnast is 4-foot-9; she measures 5-foot-7. She was born March 22, 1989, in Newport Beach, California, per The U.S. Sun.

According to Golf Monthy, she broke multiple records in pole vaulting in high school. The athlete continued her training and studied sociology at the University of California, Berkley, on bursary in 2006.

Like pole vaulting, she aimed higher with her education and was awarded a Master's degree in May 2013. She appeared as "Pole-Vaulting Girl" in the first season of Nickelodeon's iCarly with Miranda Cosgrove in 2008.

The Viral Photo That Haunted Allison Stokke's Late Teens

A picture of a 17-year-old Stokke in an athletic crop top, taken at a competition, went viral when framed as a pin-up in a crude men's blog. The image's popularity led to a crush of photographers, not at all interested in her athletic ability, at competitions.

Her mom Cindy told ESPN that the experience forced her daughter to grow up sooner, having experienced the cruelty in the world. However, she says, it also prompted her child to keep her focus on career goals and not be concerned about public opinion.

For their in-depth look at the negative aspects of internet fame, the athlete told The Washington Post, "nobody really sees me." She said in a 2016 ESPN profile that the photo became an "alter-ego," which she preferred to only engage with on her terms.

How Allison Stokke Dealt With the Impact of Internet Fame on Her Career

Stokke kept competing after narrowly missing out on making Team USA for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. She thanked journalist Kate Fagan and ESPN for "helping her tell her own story" in the 2016 profile "Allison Stokke doesn't want to be your sex symbol." At 27, she said:

"I'm trying to figure out how to reclaim and own it and push it in the right direction. And benefit from it - in terms of fueling my training. And if I try to ignore it, it will take on a life of its own. Which is what I did in college: ignore it. And I lost control of my own story."

The Berkley alum became a fitness model with campaigns for Nike and Gap-owned fitness brand Athleta. For GoPro, she shared her "seven seconds of tunnel vision" in a video viewed 10 million times.

Allison Stokke and Rickie Fowler's Relationship

Stokke and Fowler became Instagram-official in 2017 with a photo at a Moto GP race. He captioned his post, "I won!" to which she countered a few hours later, "We tied?" The couple stayed in the spotlight when she caddied for him at a Masters tournament in April 2018.

Friend and golfer Justin Thomas was a co-conspirator and photographer when Fowler dropped and popped the question to Stokke on a beach in Long Island, New York. Stokke shared the informal shoot and proposal, with her very definite answer, on June 9, 2018:

"Yes! And happy national best friend day to my best best best friend! I love you! (sic)"

Maya Fowler Was Born Days Before Turkey Day

The couple introduced Maya, born November 18, 2021, in coordinated posts on Thanksgiving 2021. Fowler said they were "beyond thankful," and their daughter's birth gave a "whole new meaning to life."

The bride told Vogue that they only cut the cake the next morning: "We were all too into the dancing!"

The pole-vaulter kept her pregnancy low-key, sharing a single baby-bump photo on June 21, 2021, taken by famed wedding photographer Allanze Peda. She coyly revealed that they were having a girl by saying her husband would "find himself a little outnumbered" that November.

A Hurricane Almost Destroyed Allison and Rickie's Wedding

The sporty couple's dream of a Bahamas wedding went up in the air when Hurricane Dorian hit the region a month before their big day. Stokke told Vogue that with the help of the hotel group, and a competent planner, they moved their venue to Cabo, Mexico.

Her brief of a design in tune with their beach venue was met with a backless Elizabeth Fillmore gown held up by delicate spaghetti straps. Fowler followed his bride's clean ascetic in a white V-neck shirt under a light blue Ralph Lauren suit and Buscemi sneakers.

The couple wanted their wedding to double as a "real vacation" for 48 of their closest friends and family. Their friend, producer Ryan Good, officiated the sunset ceremony on October 5, 2019.

Cocktail hour was a swirl of margaritas and Flamenco guitar players, a favorite of Stokke's. The reception carried on until 2 a.m. the following day. The bride told Vogue that they only cut the cake the next morning: "We were all too into the dancing!"