Suni Lee eyes Paris 2024 after challenging months: "I'm going at a good pace"
U.S. gymnast Suni Lee is focused on the here and now as she attempts to make her second-straight U.S. Olympic team after a difficult year.
“I’m not going to lie, I don't think about Paris as much right now because I am just trying to take it day by day,” Lee, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, told reporters at the recent Team USA media summit in New York City. "I want to get back out and compete an all-around competition first.”
For the past 14 months, Lee has been dealing with a kidney-related health issue that ended her sophomore campaign at Auburn University in February, two months before the end of the season, and kept her out of the U.S. World Championships and Pan American Games selection event months later.
The last time she competed on all four events was on 24 February 2023 in an Auburn dual meet against the University of Georgia.
Her last elite all-around performance came at the Tokyo 2020 Games, when she struck gold in the all-around final ahead of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and ROC’s Angelina Melnikova.
“The comeback has definitely been difficult,” said Lee in New York.
It’s included a tough five months during which she didn’t train much at all and lost motivation.
“During that time, I was honestly not doing a lot of anything good for me, I was just kind of rotting in my bed and hoping that it would all go away,” Lee told Olympics.com in February. “Things are definitely way better now.”
Bouncing back and aiming for Paris 2024
Things started to turn around for Lee at the start of the year when she received a phone call on 4 January that changed everything for her.
She has, so far, declined to elaborate on the nature of the call but has said it made a giant impact.
“It was just a simple phone call, I don’t’ know if I can really talk about it – I can’t really talk about it, but it was a simple phone call,” Lee explained. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going back into the gym tomorrow and I’m going to be better than I ever was.’ That was the day I was like, ‘Yep, this is what I want. And I’m gonna put my mind into it.’”
The 21-year-old has since competed twice in the 2024 season.
First, at the Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky. There she attempted a full-twisting Jaeger catch-and-release move that if she competes successfully at an international competition would be named in her honour.
Though, she fell on both the routines she performed there, it was an important step back into the spotlight.
Late last month, Lee competed at the American Classic and earned a two-event qualifying score on the balance beam and vault after a solid performance.
Lee and coach Jess Graba have a history of strategic decisions, and she says she’s feeling good ahead of this final push toward Paris 2024.
“I don’t want to peak too early. It feels normal. I feel like I’m going at a good pace,” said Lee. “I’m getting all of my routines back and working on consistency. Right now, I’m starting to visualize all of my routines and really try and put them together and get them crisp and clean.”