Jennifer Lynn Suhr (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Stuczynski; born February 5, 1982) is an American former

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er. She has been an Olympic and World champion, has been ranked #1 in the World, has been the #1 American pole vaulter since 2006, and has won a total of 17 US National Championships (7 Indoor, 10 Outdoor). She holds the world indoor pole vault record at . She holds the American women's pole vault record indoors. In 2008, she won the U.S. Olympic trials, setting an American record of and won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics. She won the gold medal at the

London Olympics London Olympics or London Games may refer to: * 1908 Summer Olympics, Games of the IV Olympiad * 1944 Summer Olympics, Games of the XIII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1948 Summer Olympics, Games of the XIV Olympiad * 2012 Summer Olympi ...

on August 6, 2012. ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

'' named her American Female Athlete of the Year for 2008.

Biography

Suhr was born to Mark and Sue Stuczynski, grocery store owners in

Fredonia, New York Fredonia is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 9,871 as of the 2020 census. Fredonia is in the town of Pomfret south of Lake Erie. The village is the home of the State University of New York at Fredonia ...

. The grocery store was previously owned by her grandfather, "Bunk" Stuczynski. She got involved in sports at a young age, playing softball at age 6. At 9, she competed in an adult golf league with her grandfather. At Fredonia High School, she played softball, basketball, soccer, and track and field, and won the New York State

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

title in 2000 as a senior."Riga's Jenn Stuczynski vaults onto world stage"
''Democrat and Chronicle'', August 3, 2008. Suhr attended

Roberts Wesleyan University Roberts Wesleyan University is a private Christian university in suburban Rochester, New York, United States. Anchored in the liberal arts, it was the first educational institution established for Free Methodists in North America. Roberts is ac ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, where she competed in basketball and track and field. She averaged 24.3 points and 6.7 rebounds a game for Roberts Wesleyan in 2003–04, taking her team to the NCCAA national championship game. She graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball with 1,819 points. On January 3, 2010, Jenn married her coach, Rick Suhr, in Rochester.

Pole vaulting career

2004

Jenn began pole vaulting with coach Rick Suhr.

2005

In the 2005 USA Indoor Championships in Boston, Jenn Stuczynski entered as an unknown, unseeded competitor and won the US title having only trained for 10 months. She went on to set three personal bests, eventually clearing on her first attempt to leapfrog from a tie for third. Later that indoor season she won the NAIA indoor national title in the pole vault.

2006

Suhr began her career with her coach Rick Suhr providing financial support to her by re-mortgaging his home. Suhr started the 2006 indoor season with personal bests at nearly every meet and becoming the #2 American all time, behind only

Stacy Dragila Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila (born 25 March 1971) is a former American pole vaulter. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple-time world champion. Early life Dragila was born and raised in Auburn, California, no ...

, with her clearance of . She captured her first USA Outdoor title with her winning clearance of at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships. She finished third at the

2006 World Athletics Final The 4th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 9 and September 10, 2006. Results Men Women References External linksOfficial 4th IAAF World Athletics Final Site
{{DEFAU ...

2007

Suhr won the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston on February 25, 2007. On May 20, 2007, Suhr broke the American outdoor pole vault record with a clearance of at the Adidas Track Classic in

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

, beating the previous record set by

in 2004 by one centimeter. Two weeks later, at the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2, 2007, Suhr cleared , breaking the American record for a second time and becoming the second highest vaulter in history behind Russian

Yelena Isinbayeva Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva ( rus, Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева, p=jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə; born 3 June 1982) is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist (2004 and 200 ...

. Suhr then attempted a new world record vault of – one centimeter higher than Isinbayeva's record at the time – but failed on three attempts at the height. Suhr took her second national outdoor title at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

with a vault of , her only successful clearance of the competition The victory secured Suhr a place on the US team for the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member feder ...

, held in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Competing in her first major global championship, Suhr finished in 10th place in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, with a clearance.

2008

Suhr won the Indoor U.S. Nationals, which qualified her for the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's pole vault 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

in Valencia, Spain, where she finished second on a countback to

. Both cleared . At the Adidas Track Classic on May 18, 2008, Suhr cleared , breaking her own American record. She missed all three attempts at , which would have been a world record. The U.S. Olympic Committee named her its female athlete of the month for May.U.S. Olympic Committee honors Stuczynski, Observer, June 26, 2008
Observertoday.com. Retrieved on August 19, 2013. At the U.S. Olympic Trials on July 6, 2008, Suhr cleared , winning the trials and breaking her own American record. At the Aviva Grand Prix on July 25, 2008, two women attempted the world record in the same meet for the first time. Both Suhr and Isinbayeva were unsuccessful. At the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

on August 18, 2008, Suhr finished second to Isinbayeva, clearing . Isinbayeva broke her own world record with a jump of . Suhr finished with the silver medal and credited her coach Rick Suhr for his strict regimen in preparing her for the competitiveness and high stress of the Olympics.

2009

She set a new American record on February 7, 2009, at the

Boston Indoor Games The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, formerly known as the Boston Indoor Games, is an annual indoor track and field meet which is held in late January or early February at the Track at New Balance. Prior to 2023, it was hosted at the Reggie Lewis Tr ...

when she cleared . Suhr won each Visa Championship Meet and broke her own American record with a vault of at the US Indoor Nationals in Boston on March 1, 2009, giving her a 7th US Title. On July 1, 2009, she cleared at the

2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place between June 25–28 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The competition acted as a way of selecting the United States team for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin later ...

in Oregon to win another American title. Suhr was forced to withdraw from the US team for the 2009 world championships in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

with an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury.

2010

On June 27, 2010, Suhr won the USA Outdoor Gill Women's Pole Vault in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, with a vault of . It was her fifth consecutive US outdoor title and was the best mark by any woman vaulter in the world for 2010.

2011

On February 27, 2011, Suhr won her tenth national title overall with a win at the 2011

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships i ...

with another national record clearance of for the indoor event. Her run of five consecutive national outdoor titles was ended by Kylie Hutson at the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

, with Suhr finishing in second place with a vault. Suhr cleared – the highest vault of the year – in Rochester, New York on July 26. She subsequently finished in fourth place at the

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

with a leap of . Suhr also took

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

victories in London and Zurich during the season, defeating 2011 world champion

Fabiana Murer Fabiana de Almeida Murer (born 16 March 1981) is a retired Brazilian pole vaulter. She holds the South American record in the event with an indoor best of 4.82 m and an outdoor best of 4.87 m, making her the fourth highest vaulter eve ...

and three other former world champions in the latter competition. Track & Field News ranked Suhr the number one women's pole vaulter in the world for 2011.

2012

She opened 2012 with an American record clearance of 4.88 m at the Boston Indoor Grand Prix, re-establishing herself as the second highest female vaulter of all-time. She won the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque on Feb 25 with a vault of 4.63. A meet record of 4.65 m followed in the outdoor season at the

Drake Relays The Drake Relays is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium (Drake University), Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it is regarded as one ...

in April. On June 24, Suhr won the Olympic Trials (and the United States Championships) to qualify for her second Olympic games. On August 6, 2012, Jenn Suhr won the gold medal in the women's pole vault at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, defeating

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Yarisley Silva Yarisley Silva Rodríguez (born 1 June 1987) is a Cuban pole vaulter. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics – the first Latin American athlete to win an Olympic medal in that event. Silva became the first Cuban woman to reach ...

on countback after both competitors had cleared 4.75 m.

2013

On March 2, 2013, Suhr broke Yelena Isinbayeva's world indoor record (set on February 23, 2012, in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

) at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, with a vault of 5.02m (16 ft. 5.5 in.), becoming the 2nd woman in history to vault over 5 meters. Suhr won

2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 20–23 in conjunction with the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Champion ...

in . Suhr earned silver medal at

2013 World Championships in Athletics – Women's pole vault The women's pole vault at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 11–13 August. Missing on her first attempt, home stadium favorite and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva found herself in third place ...

in .

2014

Suhr earned silver medal at

2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships was held at Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), the three-day competition took place February 21–23 in conjunction with the USA In ...

in . Suhr won

2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 26–29 in conjunction with the USA Junior Combined Events Outdoor ...

in . Suhr finished 5th in 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's pole vault in .

2015

Suhr won

2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...

in .

2016

Suhr broke her own women's indoor pole vault world record at a

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

track and field meet at the

State University of New York at Brockport State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

on January 30 with a jump of .
Suhr earned silver medal at

2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships was held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. Organised by USA Track and Field (USATF), the two-day competition took place from March 11 to March 12 and served as the national champ ...

in .
Suhr won gold medal at 2016 World Indoor Championships in in a world indoor championship meet record. Suhr won the 2016 USA Olympic Trials and competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She came down with a severe illness prior to the competition, and although she passed through the first day of qualifying without a problem, she finished in seventh place, below initial expectations. Doctors were never able to identify the cause of Suhr's symptoms.

2022

Suhr announced her retirement in June 2022. Over the course of her career, Jenn Suhr won 17 USA National Championships, 7 indoor and 10 outdoor which included every outdoor national championship from 2006 to 2016 except for 2011.

Sponsorship

In 2006 Suhr signed a 4-year sponsorship with Adidas. In August 2007, Suhr was signed as a brand spokesperson for

Nutrilite Nutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin, and dietary supplements developed in 1934 by Carl F. Rehnborg. Nutrilite products are currently manufactured by Access Business Group, a subsidiary of Alticor whose products are sold via Amway worldwide. ...

, a brand of vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements.

Awards and honors

'' named Suhr the American Female Athlete of the Year for 2008. No male vaulter has ever won the American honor and the only other female winner was

in 2001.DiVeronica, Jeff (January 10, 2009
"Stuczynski named Female Athlete of Year by 'Track & Field News'"
''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle''.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suhr, Jenn 1982 births Living people People from Fredonia, New York Sportspeople from Chautauqua County, New York Track and field athletes from New York (state) American female pole vaulters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks women's track and field athletes American people of Polish descent World Athletics indoor record holders USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) 21st-century American sportswomen Diamond League winners College women's basketball players in the United States