Jenn Suhr, the Olympic pole vault champion, felt anxious for months leading up to the World Championships. The prospect of facing two-time Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva, in Isinbayeva’s home country, in Isinbayeva’s last competition, was unsettling, even after defeating her at the London Games. Then Suhr flew across the Atlantic, got off the airplane and saw something in Moscow that calmed her considerably. “A billboard of myself,” she said. “It made me realize it’s a great opportunity.” The women’s pole vault final at Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday (11:35 a.m. Eastern time, Universal Sports coverage starts at noon) is not solely the Isinbayeva show, despite the recent flurry of Russian headlines. more
