Suni Lee opened up about her decision to withdraw from the U.S. World Championships Selection Event on her Instagram story.
The gymnast has been slowly making her comeback since experiencing kidney issues in April 2023. However, she chose to decline an invitation from USA Gymanstics for the selection event this week in Katy, Texas.
The 20-year-old said she is looking after her health.
“It was a very difficult decision, but my health is more important and I’m not in the best shape right now,” Lee said on her Instagram stories, according to Olympics.com.
“With my health, it comes with a lot of different changes since I’m still navigating my way through it all,” she added.
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Lee has been balancing training with multiple doctor appointments and medications.
“I have been in and out of the gym just because there’s just so many doctor’s appointments, and I’m taking a lot of medication, so it kind of varies every day,” Lee said in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com last month. “I could wake up very swollen some days and not be able to put my fingers inside my grips. It’s really difficult to kind of work through, but on the days that I can do stuff and I am feeling good, I try and take advantage of that and just get everything done.”
Fans have been offering words of support throughout Lee’s health journey. According to Essentially Sports, one fan at the selection event posted a picture of herself with a poster that read, “Determination is key. Let’s go Suni Lee.”
The picture was also captioned: “With her in spirit even though she won’t be competing tonight, we love you @sunisalee.”
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