By ninemsn staff

Reluctant internet sensation Allison Stokke may be facing another whirlwind of publicity as she begins her university life.

Stokke, who turns 19 in two weeks, became an online phenomenon last year when a picture of her fixing her hair while preparing to pole vault circulated on the internet.

The Californian amateur athlete — whose olive skin, spandex outfit and taut figure made her an instant sex symbol — is set to dominate blogs and e-mails all over again as her first university pictures hit the web.




At the height of her internet fame, the high school student was gawked at in public, inundated with media requests and lived in fear of stalkers.

Frightened by the lusty attention, Stokke has attempted to avoid the media since she became a celebrity last April.

However, recent photographs of her representing her university threaten to launch her into another nightmare.

Stokke, who won the 2004 California state pole vaulting title and has broken five national records, has been snapped preparing to vault at the university championships in Seattle.

Her trademark black shorts and white singlet have been replaced with official college blue-and-gold.

However, fickle bloggers appear to have a whole new perspective on the second coming of Stokke.

"Allison Stokke is back, boners are not" declares sports blog With Leather, the site which is credited for beginning Stokke-mania last year.

"The first pictures of Allison Stokke handling her pole for the Cal Golden Bears surfaced just about everywhere yesterday," the site says.

"(She is) looking less tan and a bit thicker in the britches … I won't be the first person to say that this pic is a bit of a letdown."

Fellow sport blog Busted Coverage was also less flattering of college-aged Stokke.

"A quick glance at the pole goddess shows us she’s been missing the rays at Berkeley," the site says.

"But we’ll sacrifice the tanned look for what appears to be even shorter uni shorts. Cal should be commended for its choice in pole-vaulting attire."

Stokke previously said she found the internet obsession with her "demeaning".

"I worked so hard for pole vaulting and all this other stuff, and it's almost like that doesn't matter," she told the Washington Post last year.

"Nobody sees that. Nobody really sees me."