Jenn Suhr is a 17 time US Champion, World Record Holder, World and Olympic Champion in the pole vault.

Jenn Suhr grew up in Fredonia, New York and got involved in sports at a young age, playing softball when she was only six years old. At nine, she competed in an adult golf league with her grandfather. At Fredonia High School, she played softball, basketball, soccer, and track and field, and won the New York State pentathlon title as a senior in 2000.

Jenn went on to Roberts Wesleyan College, where she competed in basketball, as well as track and field. She graduated as the school all-time leading scorer in basketball… and with a bachelor degree in psychology.

Jenn’s life changed when she met Rich Suhr in 2004. He saw her extraordinary athletic ability and thought she would be great at pole vaulting. She had never jumped before she was 22 years old. Rick is quoted as saying, “There’s a mental toughness to her, an obsessiveness that has made her go beyond everybody else.”

In 2005 Jenn entered the USA Indoor Championships in Boston, as an unknown, unseeded competitor, and won the US title after only training for 10 months. She has gone on to win world championships and is a three-time Olympian winning a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and a gold medal in London in 2012. Closer to home Jenn has been voted Buffalo's greatest female athlete of all-time.

Besides sports, Jenn is a huge animal lover and donates much of her time to animal care.

The Parade Committee is honored to recognize Jenn Suhr as the Sports Person of the Year for the
2017 TOPS Rochester St. Patrick’s Day Parade.