Suni Lee, the 21-year-old Olympic gymnast, is heading to the Paris Olympics, but her journey has been anything but smooth. After being diagnosed with two types of kidney disease, Lee nearly abandoned her gymnastics career.
“There were so many times where I thought about quitting and just giving up because I was so sick, and it was just so hard to stay motivated, watching everybody get better,” Lee revealed in an interview with Today on Monday, July 1. “And I’m just like, I can’t even get back into the gym and constantly doubting myself.”
Despite her uncertainty, Lee was buoyed by a supportive group of people who lifted her spirits and encouraged her to persevere. Deciding whether to compete in the Olympics was a challenging process for her.
“We didn’t think I would be here,” she admitted. “So getting through all of those events and everything that we had to go through this week to get to where we are right now, it was just such a hard, incredible journey.”
Lee expressed her amazement at her achievement, saying it felt “absolutely insane” to be heading to Paris for the 2024 Olympics alongside her teammates Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera.
In 2023, Lee announced a hiatus from gymnastics to prioritize her health. “I have been dealing with a non-gymnastics health-related issue involving my kidneys. For my safety, the medical team did not clear me to train and compete over the last few weeks,” she wrote on X at the time. “I am blessed and thankful to be working with the best specialized medical team to treat and manage my diagnosis. My focus at this time is my health and recovery.”
Lee later discovered she was battling two forms of kidney disease. As she contemplated returning to gymnastics, she had to adapt her training regimen to manage her symptoms, which included swelling, cramping, headaches, hot flashes, and cold spells.
“My coaches have never had to deal with someone who has had two kidney diseases,” Lee explained at the Team USA Media Summit in April. “And obviously, I’m like, ‘OK, I don’t know any other gymnasts that have two kidney diseases that have had to go through this.’ So it’s all a learning process. And we’re taking it day by day.”
At the summit, Lee revealed she was in remission and working on regaining her form from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where she won gold, silver, and bronze medals.
“I’m like, ‘I’m way better already than I was at the last Olympics.’ And I didn’t even think that I could get better than that,” she reflected. “So that gives me a little more comfort and knowing that anything that I put my mind to, I can accomplish.”