Six months ago U.S. gymnast Suni Lee didn’t think she’s even be able to compete.
On Sunday, Lee claimed her sixth Olympic medal — third in these Games — with a stirring come-from-behind 14.800 bronze finish in the uneven bars.
Kaylia Nemour — raised in France but competing for Algeria — scored a stellar 15.700 to claim gold, the first-ever for an African nation in gymnastics.
Qiu Qiyuan laid down an early marker with a 15.500 that stood up for silver.
But Lee caught Belgian Nina Derwael (14.766) for the bronze with a flawless routine that seemed impossible just as half a year ago.
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“I think this one just meant so much more because last Olympics, I got the bronze medal, but it obviously wasn’t the routine that I wanted,” Lee said in a TV interview. “So this time, I was like, even if I make podium and I get third place, whatever; it’s better than the routine that I did last time. But yeah, I’m so happy this time around because I feel like I did everything in my power to just keep the consistency coming. And that’s exactly what I did today.
“Honestly I couldn’t do it without the support of my teammates and my coaches. I told myself that I wasn’t gonna cry after my bar routine just because it was like the last one of the meet and I’m just so happy that it’s like almost over with but yeah, I’ve had to go through so much and my doctors have been super supportive. Nobody ever let me give up and I’m so grateful because who knows what I would have been doing by now if they did. But yeah, I just can’t believe that I’m here.”
Lee had to fight just to be not only in Paris but competing at all.
She faced not one but two kidney disease diagnoses, gutting through illness so severe that she had to keep a bucket nearby at practice for whenever inevitable nausea hit.
But now the 21-year-old gymnast has earned team gold for the U.S., bronze in the individual-all around, and another on the uneven bars.
She still has the beam coming up, where she will be among the favorites against Team USA mate Simone Biles.
“There’s a lot left. I feel like I have so much more to redeem every single time I do a beam final I never show what I’m capable of,” Lee said. “So this time around. I’m just going up there and giving it my all.”
