Sunisa Lee Earns Olympic Gold in Gymnastics Cementing Herself as a Superstar

 

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A post shared by Sunisa Lee (@sunisalee_)

In a moment to celebrate, gymnast Sunisa (Suni) Lee earned the Olympic gold in the individual competition of women’s gymnastics at the 2020 summer Olympic Games. The 18-year-old from Minnesota was poised to take the top place at the podium after her teammate Simone Biles—a favorite to win—withdrew from the competition in order to care for her mental health.

Lee’s win marks the fifth Olympic gold in a row for the United States in the individual all-around event. “I was nervous, but I did my best, and I'm super proud of myself,” Lee told reporters. “It's crazy. I didn't ever think I'd be here.”

Once Biles dropped out of the event, Lee realized that the gold medal was within her reach. But, she tried not to dwell on the possibility and decided to perform her best. “This whole season I've been second to her. So I just did what I do best, didn't focus on it, though, because I knew I'd get in my head.”

Lee is an exceptional gymnast and is known for her amazing uneven bar routines. She shined during this portion of the event and beat all of the other contenders while performing a routine with the highest degree of difficulty. “I just told myself to just do what I normally do, because when I was kind of getting in my head, I was messing up my bar routine a little bit,” she explained. “This week has not been easy on bars but I pulled myself together and I just stayed focused.”

Lee’s supporters, of course, are ecstatic about her win. She’s not only the fifth American to win a gold medal in individual all-around, but she’s the first Hmong American to make the U.S. Olympic team. Her family and fans were watching her win the gold and filmed their reaction to her win—one of pure joy.

And what did Biles have to say about it? “[You] absolutely killed it!!!” She wrote to Lee in a post on Instagram. “OLYMPIC CHAMPION RIGHT HERE!!! So so so beyond proud of you!!!!”

Suni Lee won the Olympic gold in the individual competition of women’s gymnastics at the 2020 summer Olympic Games.

 

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A post shared by Sunisa Lee (@sunisalee_)

Lee's teammate Simone Biles was ecstatic for her:

 

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A post shared by Simone Biles (@simonebiles)

Suni Lee: Instagram | Twitter

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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