Sunisa Lee
Sunisa Lee is an accomplished American gymnast born on March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is of Hmong descent, with her mother being a refugee from Laos. Lee began gymnastics at the age of six and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming an elite gymnast by 2014. Her career highlights include competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won the gold medal in the all-around competition and multiple other medals, making her the first Asian American to achieve this feat in women's gymnastics. Lee has also competed for Auburn University's gymnastics team, earning recognition in the NCAA. Despite facing personal challenges, including family tragedies and health issues, she has remained a vocal advocate for racial equality and representation in sports. Lee's journey inspires many young athletes, especially within the Hmong American community, and her success has garnered her numerous awards and recognitions, including the Asia Game Changer Award. As of early 2023, she is focusing on her health and training for her future in gymnastics.
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Sunisa Lee
- Born: March 9, 2003
- Place of Birth: St. Paul, Minnesota
Background
American gymnast Sunisa Lee was born March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her mother, Yeev Thoj, was a Hmong refugee from Laos and immigrated to the US as a child. Born Sunisa Phabsomphou, Lee uses the last name of her mother’s longtime partner, John Lee, who raised her and whom she considers her father. She has three half-siblings who are children of her mother and Lee: Evionn, Lucky, and Noah. She also has two step-siblings, Jonah and Shyenne, who are Lee’s children from his first wife.
Lee began training in gymnastics in 2009, when she was six years old, at the Midwest Gymnastics Center in a suburb of St. Paul. By the next year, she was competing and won the all-around medal at a state meet. She began moving up in levels and qualified for the elite level at age eleven in 2014.
In 2019, Lee was competing in her first senior USA Gymnastics National Championships when her father fell from a ladder while cutting a tree branch and was subsequently paralyzed from the waist down. Further tragedy struck in 2020, when her aunt and uncle both died from the COVID-19 virus. In 2021, Lee graduated from South St. Paul High School and moved to Alabama to attend Auburn University and compete on the school’s gymnastics team.
Life’s Work
By 2019, Lee had reached senior elite status in competitive gymnastics and continued to win medals. That same year, she competed at the US National Championships trials and placed second behind champion gymnast Simone Biles in the all-around event. Despite not placing first, she won a spot on the US National Team for the 2019 World Championship, making her the only first-year senior team member and the only team member without prior World Championship experience that year. Lee helped her team qualify for first place in the World Championship finals, and the US National Team subsequently went on to win the gold medal.
In 2020, most gymnastic competitions were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Lee sustained injuries, including a broken bone in her left foot and an Achilles tendon injury, so she took time off from competing to recover. During this time, she committed to attending Auburn University to earn a degree and compete on their gymnastics team in collegiate competitions.
In January 2021, Lee made her women’s gymnastics National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) debut with the Auburn University team. She was named the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference freshman of the week for her successful meets during January.
In 2021, Lee also returned to competing in elite gymnastics in the 2021 Winter Cup, the American Classic, the US Classic, and the National Championships. Her excellent performance at the National Championships qualified her to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until 2021. Her high scores on the team helped the US qualify for the final round in the Olympics, and she was set to compete on the uneven bars and the balance beam. However, her teammate Biles withdrew from the competition at the last moment, so Lee replaced her in floor exercises as well. She won medals in all events, and during the all-around finals she won the gold medal for her outstanding performance.
To honor her success, Minnesota governor Tim Walz declared July 30, 2021, to be Sunisa Lee Day, and later that year she won the Asia Game Changer Award for her accomplishments, which included becoming the first Asian American to win an all-around gold medal in women's gymnastics. She was also featured on the Peacock documentary Golden: The Journey of USA’s Elite Gymnasts. In addition, Lee was invited to appear on the popular reality competition series Dancing with the Stars.
Lee resumed competing at Auburn, and in the spring of 2022, she competed in the NCAA Championship and won first place on the balance beam and second place in the all-around competition. Later that year, she announced that she would compete in her final collegiate session to concentrate on elite gymnastics. Her goal was to return to the Olympics and compete in the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris. However, in early 2023, Lee announced that she was taking a break from her competitive gymnastics career due to a kidney-related health issue unrelated to gymnastics. During her recovery, she feared she would never be able to compete again, but after starting treatment, her disease went into remission and she returned to the gym. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lee won a gold medal as part of the US women's team, and she won two individual medals: a bronze medal in the all-around competition and a bronze in the uneven bars. This brought her career total to six Olympic medals.
Impact
Lee is a successful artistic gymnast who has won many awards. She has been outspoken about racial equality and the responsibility she takes personally to break barriers in the Hmong American community. Her accomplishments at a young age and enthusiasm for the sport have inspired other athletes.
Personal Life
Lee is in a relationship with Jaylin Smith, who attends the University of Southern California and plays football for their team, the Trojans. Her sister, Evionn, is also a gymnast.
Bibliography
Bregman, Scott. "Suni Lee After Olympic Triumphs: 'I Had to Overcome So Much.'" Olympics.com , 5 Aug. 2024, olympics.com/en/news/suni-lee-after-olympic-triumphs-i-had-to-overcome-so-much. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Durando, Bennett. “Why Suni Lee Honored Auburn Gymnastics Commitment Made 4 Years Ago Despite Olympic Gold Medal Win.” Montgomery Advisor, 13 Aug. 2021, www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/2021/08/13/suni-lee-olympics-gymnastics-gold-medal-auburn-jeff-graba/8121031002/#. Accessed 8 May. 2023.
Goldsmith, Annie. “What to Know About Gymnast Suni Lee, the Olympic All-Around Champion.” Town & Country, 29 July 2021, www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/sporting/a37168432/sunisa-suni-lee-usa-gymnast-olympics/. Accessed 8 May 2023.
Hernandez, Joel. “Sunisa ‘Suni’ Lee Says She’s Stepping Away from Gymnastics Due to a Kidney Issue.” NPR, 4 April 2023, www.npr.org/2023/04/04/1167966057/sunisa-suni-lee-kidney-health. Accessed 8 May 2023.
Minutaglio, Rose and Madison Feller. “You Can’t Stop Suni Lee.” Elle, 29 June 2021, www.elle.com/culture/a36503849/suni-lee-olympics-gymnastics-tokyo/. Accessed 8 May 2023.