America’s Olympic athletes are the equivalent of modern-day superheroes, uplifting the country as they bring home more gold, silver and bronze medals than anyone competing in Paris this summer. In decades past, participants have been praised for toughing it out while injured, such as Kerri Strug, who pushed through injury at the 1996 Games, leaving her unable to walk off the mat after completing an incredible vault that’s still talked about to this day. This uncomfortable moment in sports history is addressed by Simone Biles in her new Rising docuseries on Netflix as she reflected on her mental struggles at the Tokyo Olympics. While the treatment of athletes has become more compassionate in recent years, it’s worth noting that the Black icon isn’t the only Team USA member who’s been struggling. As it turns out, Suni Lee‘s kidney disease nearly kept her from competing in 2024.
The 21-year-old hails from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and despite all the odds stacked against her, Lee continues to prove herself. She became interested in gymnastics at age six after watching Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on YouTube and began studying under Coach Punnarith Koy shortly after. By her second competition, the ambitious starlet won the all-around title, so it’s not entirely surprising that she qualified for elite when she was just 11. The next year, Lee changed coaches to Jess Graba, who’s been helping her progress in the sport since. Through her teens and early 20s, the Olympian continued to dominate, but in 2023, an unexpected health scare left her unsure about her future as a gymnast.
Everything We Know about Suni Lee’s Kidney Disease
February 2023 is when Suni Lee’s kidney disease first showed obvious symptoms. The young competitor woke up with swollen ankles, suspecting her intense training routine was to blame. However, the next day, seeing her face, hands, legs and other body parts swelling as well indicated that something larger was afoot. “I just kept getting more swollen… and I think I gained, like, 40 pounds,” Lee told Self in an October interview. “I kept peeling off the bar. I couldn’t hold on, my fingers were so swollen.”
As she and medical experts searched for answers, writing off things like allergic reactions along the way, the Minnesota native fought fears of never competing again. “We didn’t know what was possible. We didn’t know what was wrong with me,” she recalled. “How do I just randomly wake up one day swollen and now I’m stuck with this condition for the rest of my life?” She sat out of the March NCAA meet as her symptoms persisted and the following month Lee spoke out at the Team USA Media Summit; specifically, she noted constant pain, nausea and lightheadedness as some of the things prohibiting her from performing.
Diagnosis and Treatment
“I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. I was just rotting in my bed. I couldn’t talk to anybody. I didn’t leave the house,” the 21-year-old admitted to Sports Illustrated. Eventually, Team USA Gymnastics physician Marcia Faustin suggested a routine urine test for Lee, which wasn’t already done. She confirmed she was having issues peeing which led to information about kidney issues in her family coming forward. The athlete was later referred to a specialist who suggested a biopsy of her organ to look for signs of damage and disease. Lee has since publicly confirmed her diagnosis with two rare kidney conditions; as of now, she hasn’t shared their names, though she has found a medication regimen to help manage her symptoms.
At its worst, Suni Lee’s kidney disease saw her sometimes waking up with her eyes swollen shut, experiencing hot flashes and cold spells, headaches and uncomfortable cramping. While these issues haven’t been erased, the gold medalist feels far more confident coping with her chronic pain these days. “I’m just thinking of it as, it’s for me. I’m competing for myself. I’m proving it to myself. I feel like I’m getting back to regular Suni,” she shared of her recovery process. Besides getting on the right meds, Lee has found balance through her Australian Shepherd puppy, Bean, taking breaks from social media and attending daily therapy sessions.
Despite Her Health Struggles, Lee Is a Gymnastics Champion to Watch
Like Biles, Lee is refusing to let her illness and setbacks define her career. Rather, the teammates are setting strong examples for other young athletes, reminding the world it’s okay to push pause and put your health first. The latter has a lot to be proud of at just 21, such as being the first-ever Hmong-American Olympian and the sixth-most-decorated American female gymnast. She made her junior elite debut at the 2016 US Classic, nabbing a spot on the junior national team the next year during which Lee also took silver on uneven bars and gold in the team event. Around the same time, the black-haired beauty announced her verbal commitment to Auburn University on a gymnastics scholarship.
As she continued to climb the competitive ladder, Lee withdrew from the 2018 Pan American Junior Championships in Buenos Aires due to ankle injury. Still, she made an impressive comeback with gold medals at the US Classic and US Championships in the months after. Ahead of the 2020 Olympics, she was a force to be reckoned with, winning the all-around title during her international senior debut at City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy.
When the COVID-19 pandemic took over, Lee unfortunately broke her foot, keeping her away from practice for two months. Still, she signed her National Letter of Intent for Auburn U and went on to qualify for the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021; in the process of the latter, Lee managed to beat Biles’ score on day two, making it the third time in her career another gymnast posted a higher all-around score. Though her teammate dropped out of the competition while battling the “twisties,” Lee wasn’t shaken as she won gold in the women’s individual all-around final in Tokyo, bronze in uneven bars and a silver in the team competition. For her resilience, the Hmong-American was named Sports Illustrated’s Female Athlete of the Year and one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world.
Suni Lee’s kidney disease was almost painful enough to make her walk away from gymnastics forever, but instead, she chose to be more deliberate with her energy. In April 2023, the Olympic hopeful retired from competing at a college level to focus on her “health and recovery.” At the same time, she clarified, “I will not stop pursuing my dreams for a bid to Paris in 2024. In fact, this experience has sharpened my vision for the future.” As anyone keeping up with the ongoing Games already knows, Lee was able to make her dreams come true, winning gold alongside Biles and their teammates in the women’s team final. She fell and missed a medal during the balance beam final, but still won bronze at the all-around contest, adding to America’s total medal count of 86 (so far).