Reigning US Olympic champion Sunisa ‘Suni’ Lee has made the 2024 US Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team.
21-year-old native of St. Paul was second in the trials, which ended Sunday, June 30, at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
While Lee struggled on the vault and beam, she achieved the highest score of the entire competition on the bars, which has long been her signature and earned her a bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
“I’m just reminded of my goals every day and I’m constantly surrounded by people who never let me give up, and I’m so grateful,” Lee said after being selected while standing on stage with the other women.
She then became too emotional to speak as she recounted her past struggles. “A year ago I didn’t even think this was—” she began, before it overcame her.
She soon regained her composure and, praising the “amazing ladies” with her on the team, said: “I can’t wait to be in Paris!”
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Suni Lee celebrates after competing on the balance beam on Day 2 of the 2024 US Olympic Team Gymnastics Trials on June 28.
Jamie Squire/Getty
She competed against more than a dozen other athletes, including four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles, for one of five coveted spots on the U.S. national team for artistic gymnastics.
The selection committee also took into account the performances of the athletes at the trials and their past experience when selecting them for the Olympic team.
In her debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were postponed to August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee was the first Asian-American woman to win a gold medal in the all-around gymnastics event.
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Sunisa Lee in July 2021.
Jamie Squire/Getty
Lee is also the first Hmong-American Olympian and has won a total of six Olympic and World Championships since 2019.
However, she has also faced challenges, including being diagnosed with kidney disease and has spoken openly about how difficult it was to adjust to life as a student after being an Olympian.
Outside of her gymnastics career, she appeared as a contestant in season 30 Dancing with the starswhich she told PEOPLE is more challenging than the Olympics.
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With dance partner Sasha Farber, who also competed with Team USA gymnasts Biles and Mary Lou Retton, Lee finished in fifth place.
“I don’t think anything will compare to the work I put into the Olympics,” she told PEOPLE in 2021. “But I have to say, Dancing with the stars [was harder].”
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.com and come to people.com to check out live coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics starting July 26 on NBC and Peacock.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education