Suni Lee made her competitive return to elite gymnastics on Saturday at the U.S. Classic in Chicago. Her performance earned her a spot at Nationals.
Lee has not competed at the elite level since 2021. After winning gold in the all-around at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Lee enrolled at Auburn University to compete for their NCAA gymnastics team. She had a fantastic first two seasons but announced in November 2022 that she would be leaving the Auburn team after the 2022/23 season to prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Unfortunately, Lee’s return journey has not been smooth. In April 2023, the gymnast announced that a kidney issue had forced her to cut her final season at Auburn short. She has been easing her way back into training ever since.
Lee did not compete in the all-around at the U.S. Classic. She performed only her vault and beam routine on Saturday. The Olympic champion earned a 14.500 on the beam and a 13.500 on vault, Sporting News reports.
“I did so much better than I thought I would,” Lee during an interview on the CBNC telecast of the event, according to Opelika-Auburn News. “I feel like it’s definitely going to help going into Championships. I’m a lot more prepared than I thought I was.
On Instagram, Lee said she was “feeling blessed and grateful” to make her return.
“this comeback was so much more than my return to elite gymnastics. It was me proving to myself that I can overcome hard things, and to hopefully inspire others to never let life’s setbacks stop you from going after your dreams. see y’all in San Jos,” Lee wrote in her caption.
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