FREDONIA, N.Y. — The parents of Olympic gold medalist Jenn Suhr said the pole vaulting champion is on the road to recovery after a scary training accident last week. Sue Stuczynski said she reached out to Jenn and her husband/coach Rick after seeing the video on TV.”Think it was on your news station,” Sue said. “I sat here and I cried so just watching. That was terrifying.””The first thing he told me is Jenn’s okay, she’s getting x-rays and he went on from there so I wouldn’t panic,” she said.Jenn suffered injuries to her ribs, wrist, neck and hands after her pole snapped during training. She was treated at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, and released.”There’s muscle and tissue damage so its just waiting for that to heal, she’s having difficulty gripping and grabbing,” Sue said.”She’s had Achilles problems before and shoulder injures stuff like that, but this is probably the most she’s been banged up from the actual sport itself,” said Mark Stuczynski, Jenn’s dad.Though her injuries are not expected to be career ending, Suhr’s accident does heighten awareness of how dangerous this sport can be.””There’s not too many sports where you’re completely inverted 15, 16 foot in the air and there’s no backup plan when you’re up that high,” Mark said.Suhr’s parents say their daughter is starting to feel better, and will no doubt rise above this latest setback.”I don’t think she has the fear of doing it again, she’s pretty motivated and tends to be fearless,” Sue said.”She’s a competitor by nature, she’s mentally tough, she’s strong and she finds joy and satisfaction in doing it and its her livelihood as well,” said Mark.Suhr still has her sights set on the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro – See more at: http://rochester.twcnews.com/content/news/760241/jenn-suhr-s-parents-say-she-s-recovering-from-accident–still-has-2016-in-her-sights/#sthash.tPiDCTTW.dpuf
