Suni Lee after Olympic triumphs: "I had to overcome so much."
When Suni Lee heads back home Tuesday (6 August), the American will be carrying some very precious cargo: three Olympic medals.
That triumph, which includes team gold and all-around and uneven bar bronze, seemed nearly impossible 18 months ago as the 21-year-old dealt with two kidney-related illnesses that ended her sophomore season at Auburn University early and ruled her out of international competition in 2023.
So, when her final artistic gymnastics routine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in the beam final didn’t go her way, Lee said she was focusing on the bigger picture.
“I think there’s a lot of things to be proud of this time around, just because I had to overcome so much,” she told reporters. “There were days where I was fighting demons, and [my coach] Jess [Graba] was just like, ‘You know what? I don’t even know if this is for you anymore.’
“There were times where he was like, ‘Maybe you should just be done here,’” she continued. “I was having the worst times.”
Having persevered, Lee’s three medals make six total in her career at the Olympic Games. At Tokyo 2020, she was the all-around champion along with grabbing team silver and uneven bars bronze.
Her experience in Paris could not have been more different than that in Japan, says Lee, crediting those closest to her for changing her perspective.
“I feel like a lot of it, too, was just kind of finding myself, just because I used to be very introverted. I didn’t want to talk to anybody, like super shy,” she said. “I think just being around the right people and having my coaches by my side, always joking, laughing with me and making feel comfortable inside the gym and enjoying my time there and me being able to express that I was enjoying my time, helped a lot.”
Her six medals puts her tied with Aly Raisman for third most by an American gymnast at the Olympics behind Simone Biles (11) and Shannon Miller (7).
“All the medals mean something super special to me,” said Lee. “I’m really happy with how it went.”