After her impressive performance at The Paris 2024 Olympics, Hmong-American Sunisa “Suni” Lee has once again proved her capabilities at yet another high-stakes competition. Suni was born to a Laos immigrant, Yeev Thoj, and she considers John Lee, her mother’s partner, as her father, as they have a close relationship despite John Lee not being her biological father.
Following an immensely successful junior career, Suni made her senior debut in 2019. She found some impressive successes, such as her contributions to the United States women’s team gold medal at the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. However, some of her biggest successes came at The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she won bronze in the women’s uneven bars event, contributed to a silver medal for the women’s team event, and most importantly, she won the gold medal for the women’s all-around event. In 2021, she also won the Female Athlete of the Year award from Sports Illustrated.
After he first Olympic success, Suni enrolled at the University of Auburn to compete for their women’s gymnastics team. While she only competed in the NCAA for two years, with her sophomore year being cut short due to her being diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, she found success at the 2022 NCAA Championships: she won a silver medal in the women’s all-around event and a gold medal in the women’s balance beam event.
In the 2024 season, Suni qualified for the team final, balance beam final, all-around final, and uneven bars final. With tremendous performances, Suni contributed to the gold medal for the United States women’s team, won silver medals in the balance beam and all-around events, and placed sixth place in the uneven bars event. Proving her capabilities in yet another Olympics has made her immensely renowned and praised for her athletic ability.
