Suni Lee—Heart of a Champion

Every Olympics, there are human interest stories that capture my attention.  I don’t follow women’s gymnastics, but I always enjoy the spirit of competition.  One Olympic athlete we may hear more about in the days to come is American gymnast Sunisa “Suni” Lee. 

There are many aspects of Suni Lee’s story that I find fascinating.  She is the first Hmong American athlete to compete in the Olympics.  The Hmong are an ethnic group that originated in Southeast Asia.  They haven’t had a country of their own. There are between 9 and 11 million Hmong people in the world today.  They lived in southwestern China for thousands of years but began immigrating to other neighboring countries in the 17^th century.  As a teacher, I taught several Hmong children.

Suni Lee performing on the uneven parallel bars at the Tokyo Olympics

The most famous and decorated gymnast on the American team is superstar Simone Biles, considered by many to be the greatest and most dominant gymnast of all time.  From 2013-2019 she won 30 world and Olympic medals and has a chance to break the all-time medal mark of 33 held by Vitaly Cherbo at this year’s Olympics. The pressure these athletes face is enormous.  When competing at the highest levels, one misstep can be the difference between winning a medal or not.

The United States was favored to win the gold medal in the team competition but had to settle for silver.  Part of that was because Simone Biles had an uncharacteristic poor first vault. After her first attempt, Biles opted out of the team competition and was replaced by gymnast Jordan Chiles.  The issue appears to be more mental than physical as Biles acknowledged the challenges of always trying to be the best.  It is unknown if she will compete in the individual events in a few days. The video below is from the 2016 Rio Olympics when Biles captured a record-tying four gold medals.

Simone Biles winning one of her many Olympic gold medals in the Rio Olympics.

In a sense, Lee isn’t just competing for herself.  At just eighteen years old, she represents an entire community that takes pride in her accomplishments.  When her father, John Lee, was asked about his daughter possibly making the U.S. Olympic team, he said, “It would be the greatest accomplishment of any Hmong person in the U.S. ever.  It will go down in history.”

Unlike a lot of American gymnasts, Lee does not come from a wealthy family.  Instead, she earned her spot on the team through dedication and hard work without the financial advantages that some athletes possess.  Unable to afford a fancy balance beam at their home growing up, John Lee built a homemade balance beam so that Lee could practice at home when she was a little girl. 

Lee became well-known in the gymnastic community during the 2019 World gymnastic championships, earning three medals.  She helped the United States win the team competition while also earning two individual awards for the floor exercise (silver) and uneven bars (bronze). She finished second in those championships to gold medal winner Simone Biles.

For those unfamiliar with how gymnastics work, there are team and individual gymnastic competitions.  All six American gymnasts who made the Olympic team compete in the team competition; however, only three American athletes can participate in the four separate gymnastic areas of floor exercise, vault, balance beam, and uneven parallel bars.  Simone Biles, Jade Carey, and Suni Lee represent the United States in the individual events. Lee’s strongest events are typically the uneven bars and balance beam.

The past few years have been extremely challenging for the Lee family.  In 2019, right before the World gymnastic championships, Suni’s father, John, fell from a ladder while helping a neighbor trim a tree.  He became paralyzed from the chest down from the incident.  He would have attended the 2019 competition but watched Suni on television while still in the hospital.  Despite this devastating life event, John has maintained a positive attitude, and he and Suni inspire each other.

Here is a recent clip (four minutes long but well worth it) from The Today Show where John Lee speaks about his daughter:  https://www.today.com/parents/dad-us-olympic-gymnast-suni-lee-shares-her-story-t226398  Any parent can relate to the pride he must have in her accomplishments.

In 2020, Lee sustained a foot injury that hampered her from training and competing for a good part of the year.  In addition, she lost her uncle and aunt to COVID-19.  Because of COVID restrictions in the Tokyo Olympics, her family will not see her compete in person.  Regardless of how Suni Lee does in these Olympics, she is a winner in her family and the Hmong community.  I may not know much about gymnastics, but I’ll be pulling for Suni Lee. 

July 27—Since I wrote this article, there have been some developments. Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the Olympics all around championships to concentrate on her mental health. She has been replaced by Jade Carrey for Thursday’s all-around competition. Biles has yet to make a decision as to whether or not she will participate in next week’s individual event finals. I will continue to update as things change.

July 29—Suni Lee just captured the gold medal for the all around in women’s gymnastics.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=31911770

August 3—Suni Lee won a bronze medal in the individual competition for the uneven parallel bars a couple of days ago. Today, the gymnastics portion of the Olympics concluded with the individual balance beam competition. The big news was that Simone Biles, who had been expected to compete in all of the individual events prior to the Olympics, took part in the balance beam contest. She finished third and won the bronze medal. Biles had not participated in any events since pulling out of the team competition with what was described as “the twisties.” This is a phenomenon where a gymnast loses their orientation when in the air. Lee came in fifth in the balance beam and concluded her Olympics winning three medals.