American pole vaulter Jenn Suhr will be battling a serious illness when she competes at the Olympics in Rio on Tuesday.
Suhr, the defending gold medal winner in the pole vault at the Olympics, contracted a virus while in Rio and has been ill, her husband says.
Jenn’s husband Rick, who doubles as her coach, posted about the athlete’s condition Monday morning on Facebook.
“Jenn has fallen ill,quite ill in the last two days,” Rick wrote. “This morning it has really kicked in, she has lost her voice almost completely. Seems she picked up a nasty virus here and has caused respiratory complications. This sucks, and I mean really sucks!
“Seems so unfair, we came here in the greatest shape of our life.4 years of total dedication eaten up in one nasty virus that is only getting worse. We have to compete tomorrow and have both decided not to withdraw. Hoping the antibiotics and other melds [sic] given by our doctors help. But this does not look good. We will fight the good fight. God has blessed us with Olympic gold and silver in the past. So I can’t be angry. I am just so disappointed.”
Jenn, 34, apparently could not talk above a whisper Monday, according to The Buffalo News. The Suhrs do not know what caused the virus and say they took precautions with bringing their own food and not drinking the water in Rio.
Suhr also battles Celiac Disease which was diagnosed in 2011. She will be one of 36 athletes at qualifying for the pole vault on Tuesday morning. If she is able to qualify, she will have a few days to rest before Friday’s final. There is no doubt about whether she will give it a go, though.
Rick Suhr said @JennSuhr still plans to take part in tomorrow's qualifying: "If we have to crawl down the runway!" #ROC #Rio2016 @DandC
— Steve Bradley (@SBradleyDC) August 15, 2016
Suhr won the gold medal in the pole vault at the 2012 Summer Games in London and the silver at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
We have seen plenty of athletes take precautions while in Rio to try preventing Zika and other viruses from afflicting them, and it sounds like the Suhrs did what they could as well. Hopefully Suhr’s recovery will be as speedy as possible.
