Suhr primed for Daegu

That discomfort pales in comparison to the pains the Olympic silver medallist has endured this spring and summer, she told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

An energy-zapping sickness called coeliac disease nearly derailed her world championship plans in June.

"I couldn't jump," said Suhr, who on the night before the U.S. world trials convinced herself that by taking muscle relaxers to reduce cramping in her legs she could compete and qualify for the American team for Daegu.

She made it, qualifying a struggling second, but new problems days ago put the trip in doubt again.

Suhr, having overcome the coeliac disease which is caused by a reaction to gluten found in grains such as wheat and barley and feeling great after vaulting a world-leading 4.91 metres, awoke one recent morning with pain in her stomach.

"I thought she was joking at first," said husband and coach Rick Suhr. "Then she said don't make me laugh because it hurts. Then I knew we had a problem."

The pain was so bad that Jenn Suhr said she could not move.

"I felt like my ribs were going to come out," the 29-year-od said. "It was horrible."

For the third consecutive world championships, it appeared an injury was going to derail her hopes of a medal.

"But I kept saying I am not pulling out; I am not," Suhr said.

She and Rick flew to Orlando, Florida, in search of a solution from a muscle therapy specialist.

"Two days went by and nothing happened," said Jenn Suhr. "Then it made a turn.

"I woke up and the pain was no longer an eight, more like a four."

Still the trip to Daegu was not certain.

"We had to vault one time at home before we got on the plane," she said. "I wasn't going to travel all this way if I could not jump."

As rumours swirled that the former basketball player might pull out of the championships, she cleared 4.70 metres and the flight to South Korea was rebooked.

"I will vault," Suhr said. "We have a shot and I am going to take it."

The field was so deep that anything could happen, she said of the competition, which begins on Sunday.

Despite her world-leading jump, Suhr said Russian world record holder and Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva was the favourite.

"I don't want to be the favourite," said Suhr. "I want to be the underdog. I want to be Cinderella. No one roots for the favourite.