Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee spent a large part of last year battling two rare kidney diseases. Last night in Paris, she qualified to defend her all-around title.
Lee won gold in the all-around at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. She took a break from professional gymnastics to compete at the collegiate level for Auburn University. In November 2022, she announced that the 2023 season would be her last collegiate season as she would be leaving to prepare for the Paris Olympics.
Just a few months later, in March 2023, Lee announced that she would be ending her last college season earlier, having been diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. Her health forced her to take a break from gymnastics and her preparation for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics.
It’s been a long journey for Lee, but, on Sunday, July 28, she returned to Olympic competition, competing alongside USA teammates Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey in Subdivision 2.
The five-woman team finished the night with a score of 172.296, qualifying for the team final. Lee and Biles qualified for the all-around final.
The Hmong American gymnast’s night got off to a shaky start. She began the competition on beam where she had a wobble on her wolf-turn and a few other wobbles throughout the routine. Although it was not her most solid performance, she still qualified to compete in the beam final.
During the next rotation, Lee stepped out of bounds on her last floor pass. The reigning Olympic all-around champion, however, gained back some ground by sticking the landing on her vault. She then capped off a terrific night with a stellar uneven bars performance. The routine qualified her for the uneven bars event finals.
Lee finished the night with a total of 56.132, finishing third overall in all-around qualification standings and second amongst her USA teammates. She beat Chiles by 0.067 points. Unfortunately, due to the two-per country rule, Chiles will not be able to compete in the all-around despite placing fourth overall in the standings.
Lee ended the night qualifying for the team final, the all-around final and two event finals.
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