Welcome to our 27th Woman of the Week! With the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympics, today we will be discussing Suni Lee, a Hmong American Gymnast! Enjoy!
Sunisa or “Suni” Lee is a Hmong American artistic gymnast who has been participating on the USA Women’s National Gymnastics Team since 2017; she competed for the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, taking the silver medal in teams and the gold in all-around. Lee was born on March 9th, 2003 in St. Paul, Minnesota and has five siblings. Starting gymnastics when she was six years old, Lee eventually made her Junior elite debut at the 2016 American Classic and won gold with the US Team along with silver in vault, floor exercise, and balance beams at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championship. Lee is a verbal commit for Auburn University on a gymnastics scholarship.
Sunisa Lee began her Senior career in 2019 at the City of Jesolo Trophy, winning gold in the all around, bars, floor, and bronze on beam. She also competed at the 2019 National Championships, placing first in bars, second behind Simone Biles in all around, fourth in beam, and third in floor; this event earned her a spot on the national team. In September 2019, Lee was the only first year senior added to the team to compete at the 2019 World Championship and helped the USA win gold. Though the COVID-19 Pandemic halted competitions in 2020, 2021 proved to be different at the 2021 Winter Cup, where Lee placed first on bars and third on beam. On day two of the National Championships, she scored a total of 58.166 - nearly one point higher than Simone Biles. Most notably is the 2020 Olympics held in Tokyo where Lee assisted the USA team to silver in bars, beam, and floor after Biles withdrew. She earned her first Olympic gold medal competing in the all-around in the 2020 Olympics as well.
Though Sunisa Lee’s Senior career began recently, it most likely won’t be stopping anytime soon as she signed her letter of intent to Auburn University in November 2020. The 5’0 18 year old was featured in the NBC docuseries Golden: The Journey of USA's Elite Gymnasts. From Sunisa Lee, we can learn the importance of being driven and remembering your roots. Lee not only proves to be a formidable yet young force in the future of American gymnastics, but she also represents the Hmong community, bringing feelings of pride and inspiration to a community lacking representation.
Comments