Kellie Suttle Article

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http://www.jonesborosun.com/story.asp?ID=5978

Olympic pole vaulter started out as jumper-sprinter

By Harry King
Stephens Media Group

LITTLE ROCK â€â€

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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 451859.htm

Suttle expects to reach greater heights in pole vault

By VAHE GREGORIAN

St. Louis Post-Dispatch


ATHENS - At age 31, after a decade of pole vaulting, Kellie Suttle has appeared jammed at 15 feet 4 inches as others have now scaled 16 feet. If she felt "maxed out," Suttle might fret that she's planted at a plateau.

Instead, Suttle believes she's on the verge of a breakthrough, a concept reinforced by the non-words of her coach, Earl Bell.

"Earl's a very honest man," said Suttle, who begins competition Saturday at the Athens Olympics. "He would tell me, 'Hey, you know, you should look into something else.'"

Actually, Bell did just that in terms of her approach. Early this year, he urged Suttle to make a radical technical alteration that has left her energized and anticipating that she has ample room for growth.

In an effort to offset Suttle's injury-prone ways and ultimately catapult her to greater heights, Bell has tutored Suttle to launch from the runway two feet sooner.

"I'm heading in the right direction if I'm going to jump 16 feet or higher," she said Thursday at the Olympic Village.

Most of the time, anyway.

"It goes great," she said, "then all of a sudden it doesn't go so good."

Especially at the top. She already believes she is mastering the technical change on the way there, but negotiating the bar remains thorny.

"One step at a time, you know?" said Suttle, who lives and trains in Jonesboro, Ark.

Even when she is on the brink of a success, she's still not quite sure why it worked: When she nearly cleared 15-9 a few weeks ago, Suttle was elated, but

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"I don't know how the heck I got there, or what I did," she said, laughing. "But that's good, because that means it's doable."

If it becomes doable in Athens, Suttle thinks she could be in the medal hunt after finishing 11th in the 2000 Sydney Games. Anywhere from 15-7 to 15-9, she reckons, could be medal-worthy.

"But you've got so many variables to deal with," she said, "you just can't predict it."

Typically, those variables would constitute, say, wind. But in this instance for her, it also includes a coaching change. Bell is unable to attend the Games because of a family matter, Suttle said. Serving in his stead will be her boyfriend, Toby Stevenson, this year's U.S. leader in the event.

"There are very few people I trust and am confident in, but I really trust and am confident in what he says," Suttle said. "There are a lot of people who can jump high but can't get it across. He's different. And he deals with my mood swings in practice very well. Poor guy."

Though Suttle doesn't expect the flamboyant Stevenson to try to get her to emulate him during competition, she appreciates his flair. Stevenson is known for such post-jump antics as robot dancing or riding the pole like a horse.

"He has a true passion for the sport," she said. "It's good, it's really good, for our sport. It brings energy out. It gets people into it. People wonder what he's going to do next."

Regardless of how she performs, Suttle expects to compete for at least another year, particularly because she believes her peak performances are ahead. The prospect of another Olympic run will be a year-by-year consideration.

Eventually, she'd like to pursue a career in corrective therapy, but it's unlikely she'll begin working toward that until she lets go of pole vaulting.

"That seems to be the only way I know how to do things," she said. "All or nothing."

At least until she knows she's maxed out.