Gymnastics Weekly News: Olympic champion Sunisa Lee resumes training following break for kidney-related health issue

After a kidney-related health issue kept U.S. gymnast Sunisa Lee, the Tokyo 2020 all-around gold medallist, out of competition the second half of her sophomore season at Auburn University, the 20-year-old has resumed training.

“Hey guys, it’s my first day back in the gym, so I’m going to document,” Lee said in a TikTok posted 14 April.

The video shows Lee, who also won team silver and uneven bars bronze in Tokyo, practising on the uneven bars where she successfully performs several difficult elements including connecting a Pak salto, a toe-on Shaposhnikova and a straddled Jaeger.

Days later, Lee posted a second video showing her working a full-twisting Shaposhnikova, an element she has yet to compete. After missing the catch several times, Lee finally grabs the bar and exclaims, “Yay!”

The video concludes with a successful attempt at an aerial, layout stepout, layout stepout series on the balance beam.

Lee’s return to training comes after she posted about her illness on 3 April on Twitter.

“I have been dealing with a non-gymnastics health related issue involving my kidneys,” she wrote. “I will not stop pursuing my dreams for a bid to Paris in 2024. In fact, this experience has sharpened my vision for the future.”

Kayla DiCello will take year off from Florida to train for Paris 2024

Tokyo 2020 U.S. alternate and 2021 World all-around bronze medallist Kayla DiCello announced Thursday (24 April) that she would take a gap year away from the University of Florida, where she would be entering her sophomore season as a member of the women's gymnastics team, to train for the 2024 Olympic Games.

DiCello plans to return home to the Washington-D.C. metro area and train with long-time coach Kelli Hill and Hill's Gymnastics.

"I called her maybe a few weeks ago, just letting her know kind of what I was thinking. Just like, 'I think I want to come back. Would you be willing to train me? Would you help me?' And she told me that she would," said DiCello of Hill, who had previously announced her retirement from coaching. "So then a few weeks went by and that was when I was deciding whether I wanted to stay [in Gainesville] or go back and train. Then, I came to my decision of going back home, and she was like... 'We can do it together.'"

While DiCello says she hasn't really been focused on training the more difficult element she'll need for elite-level gymnastics during her collegiate season, she hopes to compete first at August's U.S. Classic.

Following a run at the Games, the 19-year-old says she'll return to Gainesville.

"I'm definitely coming back," she said, according to FloridaGators.com.

Fellow Florida Gator Leanne Wong, another U.S. alternate in Tokyo and member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team from the 2022 Worlds, is also resuming elite training.

According to a release from USA Gymnastics, Wong is set to participate at an upcoming U.S. women's national team camp in Katy, Texas. Wong, who grew up training at Great American Gymnastics Express in the Kansas City, Missouri, aera, has yet to make public her plans for the 2023-24 collegiate season.

From the vault…

This week, we take a look back at Team Spain on the balance beam during the women’s team final at Sydney 2000. The squad finished fourth overall and posted the fourth best mark on the balance beam, led by Esther Moya’s 9.625.