Local Olympian Jenn Suhr is jumping into her next big gig. 

After competing as a pole vaulter in Beijing in 2008, she won silver. Four years later, she earned gold in London. Now, he’s the new assistant coach to Roberts Wesleyan University’s track and field team. 

Something many people don’t know about Suhr — pole vaulting was never her first love. 

What You Need To Know

  • Jenn Suhr is a Roberts Weslyan University alumni

  • She played basketball all four years of college

  • When approached with the suggestion to start pole vaulting, she jumped on the opportunity

  • Suhr won silver in Beijing back in 2008, and  gold in London four years later
  • She's now taking advantage of her first opportunity to coach, and at her home turf, as assistant coach to the track and field team at Roberts Weslyan University

“I started pole vaulting when I was a senior in college here," Suhr said. "I played basketball all four years and I started pole vaulting at 22. It’s funny, pole vaulting was something that I just sat on the pad and tanned and I thought it was scary. But when my coach approached me, Rick Suhr, he was like, 'I think you can do this. I think that this is something you might be good at.' I was like, 'no way. This is way too scary.' As you see, it’s pretty intense. And I ended up trying it and I fell in love with it. Day one.” 

This year will be another first for Suhr. 

“I pole vaulted for 17 years, but this is my first time coaching,” she said, “I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone. It’s a lot of different personalities, understanding how each one works… a lot of them have strengths. You enhance the strengths and work on the weaknesses and you don’t make it too complicated. They have to enjoy it.”

As a Roberts alum, she understands what it’s like to be a student-athlete.

“I want them to have fun. I want them to enjoy the event," she said. "They’re student-athletes here. They’re here to be eventually whatever career path takes them and they have to be good students. On top of that, I want them to be the best that they can be as athletes. And I hope I can guide them that way and make the event fun and have them see it as I saw it.”

For fifth-year transfer student Brynn King, it’s that attitude and wisdom that brought her to campus. 

“The experience she has as an athlete is really great because we can connect in that way," King said. "Not only is she a great coach, but she experienced what I’m experiencing recently so it’s really easy to relate to her.” 

For athletes like King, having an Olympian as a coach was a huge opportunity that she couldn’t turn down.

This season, Suhr plans to start her coaching career by growing with her athletes. 

“It’s really it’s just fun. I can’t explain [it]," Suhr said. "I was a pole vaulter. So now I get to go in the coaching realm and it’s, I mean, it went from me being completely selfish as an athlete where I had to watch out for myself. I had to watch out for injuries. I had to think about myself. Now I’m thinking about everyone else, and I kind of like that.”