BOSTON (AP) Defending Olympic pole vault champion Jenn Suhr was injury-free, avoided the flu bug this season and the warm weather made it easier to train at her home-made facility in upstate New York.
So she scouted the area for a meet and found one in Brockport, about 15 miles from her home outside of Rochester.
''When I'm ready to go, it doesn't matter where I jump,'' Suhr said Tuesday, three days after she broke her own indoor world record by clearing 5.03 meters (16 feet, 6 inches). ''Sometimes you can't predict when it's going to happen, you just know that the possibilities are a lot higher that it's going to happen.''
Suhr, who turns 34 this week, showed up at the Golden Eagle Multi and Invitational meet that included a field of mostly college athletes at the College of Brockport. The arrival of an Olympic gold (2012) and silver (2008) medalist caused quite a stir among the young vaulters.
''It really was just an inspiring thing for me to see,'' Suhr said.
After an uneven year in 2015, Suhr said she is off to a good start as she attempts to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The biggest difference so far is that she hasn't had any injuries or other setbacks derail her training.
''Right now, nothing has hit me from the side,'' she said. ''When you're healthy and you're able to work on things, and you're able to just do your event, pole vault, you just get better at it.''
Husband and coach Rick Suhr told her that her previous world record of 5.02 meters was beatable.
''Rick kept saying, ''You can break it. You can break it.' Then my mind caught up with what my body was doing,'' she said.
Although it was an odd place for her to set the record, the mark was quickly verified.
''There were a lot of people measuring that bar, a lot of different angles, a lot of measuring sticks,'' she said. ''They were all 5.03.''
Her next event is the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on Feb. 14.
