ROCHESTER, N.Y. —Dreams are coming true for Olympians across the country as they head overseas for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Roberts Wesleyan University pole vaulter Brynn King is one of them. It will be her first time in Paris.
“I’m extremely excited. This has been kind of a dream come true. We’ve just been back into hard training, just trying to do as much as I can in the short amount of time between trials in Paris, and I'm excited to get there and show kind of what I've been working on in the short amount of time,” King explained. “Paris is something that I've always wanted to go see. Go see all the attractions. So I'm excited to stay a little bit after I jump in, have family and friends there to go explore Paris with.”
What You Need To Know
- Brynn King is a fifth-year Roberts Wesleyan University pole vaulter
- The Woodlands, Texas native was sent off by the Rochester community Thursday to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France
- King's personal record is 4.73 meters, which is 15 feet 6 and a half inches
- She is coached by husband-wife duo, Rick and Jenn Suhr, a former gold medalist pole vaulter
King transferred to New York last year with hopes to jump 14 feet. Now, her personal record is 4.73 meters, which is 15 feet and 6 1/2 inches, a feat she accomplished at last month's Olympic Trials.
“A lot of goals that I had set are now like things that I come in at, at opening height and stuff. So, I mean, my pole vaulting has gotten a lot better, but also just mental toughness, like physical ability. I’ve grown in more ways than I could have ever imagined,” she said.
King transferred to Roberts to train under husband-wife duo, Rick and Jenn Suhr.
“At the end of the day, it was the drive. I expected her to get better. Not 53 centimeters better, that’s unheard of, but, you know, it’s a magic and it’s an approach,” Rick said.
Their approach includes a lot of training in the gym, as well as resting to refocus and avoid injury. That’s something King’s coaches were concerned about when she came to Roberts.
“When she came, I mean, she's obviously a good athlete, but, [she] was a little broken up physically, had a lot of issues. She's had four major surgeries, two of which pole vaulters a lot of times don't come back from. She's had two ACL tears. She had major hip surgery and major ankle surgery. Usually, that pretty much ends a college career. So she had to fight. I knew that. I think a big challenge was to keep her healthy,” he explained.
The training has worked, but Olympic Trials were never a thought for King and her team at this time last year. She was an underdog during the trials. Her final jump vaulted her from eighth place to third, earning her a spot to compete on Team U.S.A.
“He had kind of told me, like, 'it's it's now or never. If you want to make this dream a reality, it is now.' And I think I had doubts in the back of my mind leading in the whole like competition. And that was finally the moment where I was like, 'alright, if I want this, I have to completely let go of my own doubts, embrace everything that he said and go for it.' And I thought that was kind of the turning point," King explained.
“Our goal when she got here was, 'hey, is there any way we can have an All-American? Our first year, our first year here with the program? Can we produce a Division two All-American?' And then she started getting better so quickly. It's like, OK, we got a shot at maybe having a national champ. Then it's like, OK, we got a shot at maybe having a national record. The really make the Olympic team,” he said.
“We all planned our vacations. She was supposed to be in Costa Rica with her family. Yes, they all had a family trip planned,” Jenn laughed.
“I’ve told everybody we all worked ourselves out of our vacation, so,” Rick finished.
Jenn won a silver medal in Beijing back in 2008 and then won gold four years later in London.
“We get to step back because we're not directly ... it's not us, and we get to watch her go through it and watch her parents, and it kind of revives all those good memories that we may have missed or overlooked just because of the stress,” Rick said.
“Being able to have people kind of be able to walk me through things before they even happen, I feel like it almost gives me an experience not quite like I've already been there before, but at least gets me in a step towards that direction, which is really helpful,” King explained.
The Woodlands, Texas-native has found a new home, and fan base, in Rochester.
“I totally feel like I’ve been adopted into a little family everywhere I go. I can’t go anywhere now without someone recognizing me, coming up, telling me how supportive they are, that they’re praying for me that they’re so excited to watch me on this journey. And it’s really nice to see support from not only Roberts, but like the whole community of Rochester,” she said.
King plans to leave on July 26 and will continue her training at home beyond opening ceremonies. She looks forward to learning with her entire support system, one filled with the Suhrs, family and friends, in the stands.
“Whatever I do, I want to give it 100%. So when I found out, I was like, this is what I want to do, I'm going to give it everything I have to see if I can be great in it. And at this point, I don't really know what my goals are. I feel like I've achieved more than I honestly could have imagined this year, so I guess just keep getting better and see what that entails for me in the future,” King smiled.
