RIO DE JANEIRO - Olympic pole vault champion Jenn Suhr dragged herself off her sick bed to battle through qualifying and stay on course for a successful defence of her 2012 crown on Tuesday.
Jenn Suhr competes at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials at on July 10, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon
The 34-year-old American star was laid low by a mystery virus which struck at the weekend, jeopardising her hopes of back-to-back golds.
On Tuesday Suhr fought through the worst day of illness so far to book her place in the final with a jump of 4.60m at the Olympic Stadium.
"The last couple of days I came down with something and since then its been a battle to get healthy and feel like myself," Suhr told reporters.
"I felt like today I was going to maybe turn it around but I did not feel good in the morning at all.
"Today was the first day where something internally didn't feel right. Before it was just respiratory and dizziness. Today I just didn't feel good inside."
Suhr is widely seen as the front-runner for gold, particularly in the absence of two-time Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva, who has fallen foul of the blanket ban imposed on Russian athletes.
Suhr now faces a race to recover in time for Friday's final.
"I've got a couple of days to the finals. Everything is different in qualifiers," she said.
"Qualifiers are always tough. Thank god I'm through. We live another day."
But while a weary Suhr recuperated, Brazilian hopes of a women's medal -- following the gold medal victory of Thiago Braz on Monday -- came to an end when Fabiana Murer bombed out of the competition after failing to register a mark.
Murer, world silver medallist last year in Beijing, failed to live up to expectations however.
The 35-year-old skipped the three first entry marks of 4.15, 4.30 and 4.45m, coming in at 4.55m.
But she failed with her three attempts at the height, well below her personal best of 4.87m which she vaulted this season.