A dedicated 22-year old volleyball player who started her career in Vladivostok, Alisa Manyonok, rose to fame thanks to her good looks after she won the Miss Primorye 2013 beauty pageant at the age of 18.
Since then, she participated in several other beauty pageants, including Miss International Russia 2016 and Supermodel International 2016, and gradually shifted her attention from sports to modeling.
"I graduated from university this year, and now I intend to move forward in the modeling industry," she told Sputnik.
Four years ago, her photos were published by a Philippine media outlet, and gradually the rest of the world took notice of the Russian beauty.
"Those pictures were then reprinted in Indonesia, Thailand and other Asian countries, and then European media started talking about them as well," Alisa said.
Manyonok is also sometimes referred to as the ‘Volleyball Barbie’ due to her resemblance to a Barbie doll, and when pictures of ‘Alice the Volleyball Barbie’ doll surfaced on the Internet, many started wondering where they could purchase one.
"It was incredible. The photo was posted on several websites and people were certain that this doll actually exists and wanted to buy it," Manyonok said, pointing out that the ‘doll’ is actually just a 3D image created by a Russian photographer, and that no such toy was ever made.