Sunisa Lee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sunisa Lee
Lee at the 2024 U.S Gymnastics Championships
Personal information
Full name	Sunisa Phabsomphou Lee
Nickname(s)	Suni
Country represented	United States
Born	(2003-03-09) March 9, 2003 (age 23) Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Training location	Little Canada, Minnesota, U.S.
Height	5 ft 0 in (152 cm)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	2016–2021, 2024
Club	Midwest Gymnastics Center
College team	Auburn Tigers (2022–2023)
Head coach(es)	Jess Graba
Assistant coach(es)	Alison Lim
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 1 3 World Championships 1 1 1 NCAA Championships 1 1 0 Women's artistic gymnastics Representing the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2020 Tokyo All-Around Gold 2024 Paris Team Silver 2020 Tokyo Team Bronze 2020 Tokyo Uneven Bars Bronze 2024 Paris All-Around Bronze 2024 Paris Uneven Bars World Championships Gold 2019 Stuttgart Team Silver 2019 Stuttgart Floor Exercise Bronze 2019 Stuttgart Uneven Bars Representing the Auburn Tigers NCAA Championships Gold 2022 Fort Worth Balance Beam Silver 2022 Fort Worth All-Around
Awards	See awards

Sunisa Phabsomphou Lee (born March 9, 2003), known as Suni Lee, is an amazing American artistic gymnast. She won the gold medal in the all-around competition at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. She also earned a bronze medal on the uneven bars at those same Olympics. More recently, at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Suni won a bronze medal in the all-around and another bronze on the uneven bars.

Suni was part of the "Golden Girls" team that won gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She also helped the U.S. team win gold at the 2019 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is a two-time U.S. national champion on the uneven bars.

Suni Lee competed for the Auburn Tigers gymnastics team in college. There, she won an NCAA championship on the balance beam. She is one of only three female gymnasts to win NCAA, World, and Olympic titles!

Suni is the first Hmong-American Olympian. She is also the first Asian American woman to win the Olympic all-around title. With nine World Championship and Olympic medals, she is one of the most decorated American female gymnasts ever.

Suni has received many awards. In 2021, Sports Illustrated named her Female Athlete of the Year. The Women's Sports Foundation named her Sportswoman of the Year. She was also included in Time 100, Time{nowiki/}'s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She won the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award at the 2025 ESPY Awards.

Early Life and Family

Suni Lee was born on March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her mother, Yeev Thoj, came to the United States from Laos as a child. Suni is of Hmong descent. She was raised by her mother's partner, John Lee, whom she considers her father. She started using his last name professionally as a teenager.

Suni became interested in gymnastics when she was six years old. She watched gymnasts like Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on YouTube. Her father even built a balance beam for her from a mattress! When her parents saw her doing backflips outside, they knew she needed a safer place to practice. They enrolled her in gymnastics classes at Midwest Gymnastics Center in Little Canada, Minnesota. She trained there with coach Punnarith Koy.

The next year, Suni won the all-around at a state competition, which was only her second meet. By age eight, she had moved up three levels in gymnastics. She qualified for elite gymnastics at age 11. Jess Graba became her coach when she was about 12, and he has coached her ever since.

Gymnastics Career

Junior Achievements

Suni started competing in the Hopes division in 2015. She became a junior elite gymnast in 2016. Her first junior elite competition was the 2016 U.S. Classic. In 2017, she earned a spot on the junior national team. She made her international debut at the Gymnix International Junior Cup, where the U.S. team won gold. Suni also won a silver medal on the uneven bars. In May 2017, she announced she would attend Auburn University on a gymnastics scholarship.

In April 2018, Suni competed at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. She won gold with the U.S. team. She also earned silver medals on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. She finished fourth in the all-around competition. A month later, she had to withdraw from another competition due to an ankle injury.

In July 2018, Suni competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic. She finished fifth in the all-around and won gold on the balance beam. At the 2018 U.S. Championships, she placed third in the all-around. She won a gold medal on the uneven bars.

Senior Career Highlights

2019: World Championships Debut

Suni made her international senior debut at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy. She won the all-around title and helped the U.S. team win gold. She also won gold on uneven bars and floor, and bronze on balance beam.

The year 2019 brought some injuries for Suni. She hurt her ankle and had a small fracture in her leg. Despite this, she competed at the 2019 U.S. Championships in August. She finished second in the all-around behind the famous Simone Biles. Suni won gold on uneven bars and bronze on floor. She was then named to the national team.

A month later, Suni was chosen to represent the U.S. at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart. She was the only first-year senior on the team. The U.S. team won gold. Suni also won a bronze medal on the uneven bars and a silver medal in the floor exercise.

2020: Challenges and Injuries

The 2020 gymnastics season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many events were canceled. Suni's gym closed temporarily. During this time, she broke a bone in her left foot, which kept her from training for two months. She also had an Achilles tendon injury that sidelined her for another two months. In November, Suni officially committed to Auburn University.

2021: Olympic Dreams Come True

Lee at the 2021 US National Championships

Suni returned to competition in February 2021 at the 2021 Winter Cup. She performed well on uneven bars and balance beam. In June, she competed at the 2021 U.S. Championships. She won silver in the all-around, again behind Simone Biles. Suni also won gold on uneven bars and silver on balance beam. This qualified her for the upcoming U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials.

At the Olympic Trials, Suni had an amazing performance. On the second day, she even scored higher than Biles in the all-around! This was a rare achievement. Suni finished second overall, securing her spot on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team for the Tokyo Games.

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

The 2020 Olympic Games were held in Tokyo in July-August 2021 due to the pandemic. Suni competed on all four events during the qualification rounds. The U.S. team advanced to the final in second place. Suni qualified for the individual all-around final, the uneven bars final, and the balance beam final.

In the team final, Suni stepped up when Biles withdrew from part of the competition. Suni performed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. Her strong routines helped the U.S. team win the silver medal.

Then came the all-around final. Suni performed beautifully on vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. She earned a total score of 57.433, winning the gold medal! She became the sixth U.S. woman to win the Olympic all-around title. She was also the first Hmong-American Olympian and the first Asian American woman to win this title.

In the uneven bars final, Suni won a bronze medal. In the balance beam final, she finished fifth. After her historic success, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the mayor of St. Paul, Melvin Carter, declared July 30, 2021, "Sunisa Lee Day." Suni then enrolled at Auburn University to compete in NCAA gymnastics.

College Gymnastics (NCAA)

2021–2022 Season

Suni made her NCAA debut on January 7, 2022, for Auburn University. She competed on uneven bars and balance beam. She quickly became a star, making her all-around debut on January 28. She won the all-around title in that meet.

On February 5, Suni earned her first collegiate perfect ten on the uneven bars! She was the first Auburn gymnast since 2004 to achieve this. On February 25, she earned her first perfect ten on the balance beam. At the NCAA Championship, Suni finished first on balance beam and second in the all-around.

2022–2023 Season

On November 15, 2022, Suni announced that the 2022–2023 season would be her last for Auburn University. She planned to return to elite gymnastics to prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games. She started the season strong, winning the balance beam title with another perfect 10 and the all-around title at her first meet.

In March 2023, Suni was diagnosed with a rare kidney condition. She experienced health challenges, including feeling unwell and having swelling. After seeing many doctors, she received treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Due to her health, she ended her college season early, concluding her NCAA gymnastics career.

Suni's Perfect 10.0 Scores

Suni Lee achieved several perfect 10.0 scores during her college career:

Return to Elite Gymnastics

2023: Comeback and Health

In August 2023, Suni made her return to elite gymnastics at the 2023 U.S. Classic. She qualified for the U.S. Championships. A few weeks later, she competed at the 2023 U.S. Championships and won a bronze medal on the balance beam.

Suni chose not to compete at the World Championships that year. She focused on managing her kidney-related health issues.

2024: Road to Paris Olympics

Lee competing on floor at the 2024 Core Hydration Classic

Suni started the 2024 season at the 2024 Winter Cup. She then competed at the American Classic, winning first place on balance beam. At the Core Hydration Classic, she performed her floor exercise for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics and again won first on balance beam.

At the Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships, Suni finished fourth in the all-around and won a silver medal on beam. She was named to the U.S. National Team and invited to the Olympic Trials.

At the Olympic Trials, Suni placed second in the all-around and first on uneven bars. She was selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris!

2024 Paris Olympic Games

Lee winning bronze in the all-around at the 2024 Olympics

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Suni competed on all four events during the qualification round. She ranked third overall and qualified for the all-around final, uneven bars final, and balance beam final.

In the team final, Suni contributed strong scores on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. Her efforts helped the U.S. national team win their fourth Olympic team gold medal!

In the individual all-around final, Suni won a bronze medal. This made her the first reigning Olympic champion since Nadia Comăneci in 1980 to win another medal in the event at the next Olympic Games. In the uneven bars final, she finished with a score of 14.800 to win the bronze medal. In the balance beam final, she finished in sixth place.

Education

Suni Lee went to Battle Creek Elementary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She later attended South St. Paul Secondary and received her high school diploma in June 2021. She enrolled at Auburn University in August 2021 to study business marketing. She left after her second year due to health issues and to return to elite gymnastics, aiming for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Personal Life

In August 2019, a few days before Suni competed in her first senior U.S. championships, her father had a serious accident that affected his ability to move. Suni also faced the loss of family members due to illness. When discussing these challenges, Suni said, "I am tougher because of it."

In March 2023, Suni was diagnosed with a rare kidney condition. She experienced health challenges, including feeling unwell and having swelling. After seeing various doctors, she received treatment at the Mayo Clinic. During this time, she took a six-month break from gymnastics. In April 2024, Suni reported that her kidney condition was in remission. At the 2025 ESPY Awards, where Suni won the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award, she brought her doctor, Dr. Marcia Faustin, as her guest.

Awards

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Sunisa Lee para niños

• History of the Hmong in Minneapolis–Saint Paul