Over the years, many gymnasts have come forward to talk about the pressures of being in elite gymnastics. Recently, US Olympian Suni Lee also talked about how hard her life is, both in and away from the sport. The 2020 all-around champion, Lee is one of the youngest in her team who started gymnastics at the mere age of 6 and since, has never left the mat. Currently, she is also participating in the popular American show Dancing with the Stars. The star recently spoke about the sacrifices she made to establish herself in the sport. It is indeed an achievement to be recognized as one of the best gymnasts in the sport, at such a young age. LEE FEELS EVERYTHING WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM HER BY THE SPORT Lee turned towards gymnastics at a very young age and has never stopped working hard since then. Her childhood was filled with training sessions instead of school, leading a life, unlike the ideal teenager. Hence, the college fresher wishes to have a normal and happy life now. [https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-1332099432-e1687067377652.jpg]TOKYO, JAPAN – AUGUST 03: Sunisa Lee of Team United States competes during the Women’s Balance Beam Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) “I lost my whole childhood to gymnastics. Since I sacrificed all of that, I wanted to have the college experience and get what I couldn’t have. I wanted to be treated normal,” said [https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/suni-lee-olympics-interview-48564671?utm_campaign=likeshopme&utm_medium=instagram&utm_source=dash%20hudson&utm_content=www.instagram.com/p/CWGieWppi6G/] the Olympic star, Suni Lee. “I was doing gymnastics for, like, 12 years, and I feel like I never had time to just do anything fun. I really wanted to try and find myself on this show, because I feel like everything got taken away from me in gymnastics,” she added. Previously, gymnastics legend Simone Biles also revealed the toxic work culture of elite gymnastics, and how it encourages prioritizing performance and success over health. ?I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HAVE FUN”- SUNI LEE In gymnastics, the only thing important was performance and getting medals. Hence, DWTS was a big change for Suni Lee to do something different. The show was not just about her performance, but also about having fun. Suni Lee [https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/suni-lee-dancing-with-the-stars-performances-videos.jpg] “It’s a lot harder than I thought it was going to be and it’s very different. The hardest thing is I get to have fun, and I don’t know how to have fun,” said [https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/suni-lee-dancing-with-the-stars-performances-videos-48579218] Lee. It?s not only gymnastics where Lee raises the bar. Suni has other fields of interest too and dance is one of them. Showing off her spellbound moves on the show, she has proved that she?s more than just a gymnastics icon. READ MORE: ?It?s Just So Toxic?- US Olympic Star Suni Lee Opens Up on the Attitude Towards Gymnastics [https://www.essentiallysports.com/gymnastics-news-its-just-so-toxic-us-olympic-star-suni-lee-opens-up-on-the-attitude-towards-gymnastics/] 

Tokyo 2020 all-around champion Suni Lee reveals the harsh realities of being in elite gymnastics; says her childhood was taken away from her.

Richa Goswami is a US Sports writer at EssentiallySports. As an adherent
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Gymnastics - Artistic - Women's Individual All-Around - Medal Ceremony

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“I Lost My Whole Childhood”: Suni Lee Wants To Experience ‘Normal’ Youth Away
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Gymnastics is a collection of physical exercises requiring a lot of strength, agility, balance, and flexibility. It is closely related to circus performing skills as athletes put their bodies to the fullest use. Likewise, there are various disciplines for gymnasts to showcase their talents. Thus, it evolved from ancient Greeks that included skills to mounting to dismounting a horse. The competitive form of gymnastics is called artistic gymnastics. It involves various events for women like the floor, vault, uneven bars, and the beam. For men, they have floor, vault, rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. Therefore, the sport is famous for its aesthetic values and the Olympics draws major crowds to the gymnastics arena.

[caption id="attachment_996875" align="aligncenter" width="1920"]<img class="wp-image-996875 size-full" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-1342598189.jpg" alt="Simone Biles" width="1920" height="1281" /> LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 25: Simone Biles performs during the Gold Over America Tour at Staples Center on September 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)[/caption]
<h3>History of Gymnastics</h3>
Gymnastics originated from the Greek term, 'to exercise naked,' applied in ancient Greece exercises. These exercises became a mainstay at the Olympics but most of the competition came from ancient roots. There are stone engravings found in Shandong province during <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/gymnastics/Gymnasts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Han Period</a> (206?<span class="text-smallcaps">BCE</span>?220?<span class="text-smallcaps">CE) where they portrayed acrobatics. Like every sport, the person credited for making the sport famous was Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, founder of the Turnverein movement as he helped to spread gymnastics across the world. </span>

<span class="text-smallcaps">Most of the exercises were conducted on the playground. Therefore, various events came into existence. They held the first Gymnastics festival in 1860 in Coburg. The Americans were introduced to Gymnastics in the late 1820s while the Federation Internationale Gymnastique was founded in 1881 to organize the event. The 1896 Olympic Games saw the starting stages of gymnastics being introduced to the world.?</span>
<h3>The Sport</h3>
There are three divisions of artistic gymnastics- artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline. There are six <a href="https://completegymnastics.com/gymnastics-disciplines-explained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">events</a> for men and the all around event where they combine scores from every discipline. For women, there are four exercises and a similar all around event, both team and individual events. Apart from artistic gymnastics, there is rhythmic gymnastics and is practiced only by women. Trampoline is the other discipline of gymnastics and introduced itself at the 2000 Olympic Games. As years pass by, various gymnasts showcased their athletic skills to the masses in attendance.

[caption id="attachment_1074502" align="alignnone" width="473"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-1074502" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-1332096751-473x315.jpg" alt="simone biles" width="473" height="315" /> TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 03: Simone Biles of Team United States competes in the Women's Balance Beam Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)[/caption]
<h3>Famous gymnasts in the world</h3>
<strong>Simone Biles:</strong>

In terms of pure dominance, Simone Biles enters the list as arguably the greatest gymnast of all time. She is the <a href="https://www.rookieroad.com/gymnastics/top-6-best-womens-players-of-all-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most decorated</a> gymnast in the World Championships, winning four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. The 2016 Rio Olympics saw her winning four gold medals and completely dominated the events. She has 25 World Championships medals to her name and her stance on mental health helps her become an influential person in the society.

<strong>Larisa Latynina:</strong>

Winning nine gold medals at the Olympics is astonishing and Larisa Latynina ranks on top of the famous gymnast charts. After Michael Phelps, she has the most Olympic medals with 18. She popularized the sport of gymnastics and was the first star in the sport. Her iconic performances will go down to the gymnastics folklore.

[caption id="attachment_688263" align="aligncenter" width="1920"]<img class="wp-image-688263 size-full" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-640615533.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1293" /> Nadia Comaneci of Romania performs her routine on the Balance Beam during the Women's ArtisticTeam all-around event on 19 July 1976 during the XXI Olympic Summer Games at the Montreal Forum, Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Don Morley/Getty Images) )[/caption]

<strong>Nadia Comaneci:</strong>

Achieving a perfect 10.0 score in gymnastics is amazing. But, doing it at the Olympics, when just turning 14, placed Nadia Comaneci amongst the pantheon of greats. The 1976 Olympics saw her earning seven perfect scores. She won five Olympic gold medals out of the nine she won.

<strong>Svetlana Khorkina:</strong>

With a total of 47 Olympic, World and European Championships medals, Svetlana Khorkina is a remarkable gymnast. She became the first gymnast to win three all-around titles at the World Championships while winning five gold medals in the uneven bars at World Championships. Her success in the uneven bars earned her the moniker 'The Queen of Bars.'

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a collection of physical exercises requiring a lot of strength, agility, balance, and flexibility. It is closely related to circus performing skills as athletes put their bodies to the fullest use. Likewise, there are various disciplines for gymnasts to showcase their talents. Thus, it evolved from ancient Greeks that included skills to mounting to dismounting a horse. The competitive form of gymnastics is called artistic gymnastics. It involves various events for women like the floor, vault, uneven bars, and the beam. For men, they have floor, vault, rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. Therefore, the sport is famous for its aesthetic values and the Olympics draws major crowds to the gymnastics arena. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA &#8211; SEPTEMBER 25: Simone Biles performs during the Gold Over America Tour at Staples Center on September 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images) History of Gymnastics Gymnastics originated from the Greek term, &#8216;to exercise naked,&#8217; applied in ancient Greece exercises. These exercises became a mainstay at the Olympics but most of the competition came from ancient roots. There are stone engravings found in Shandong province during the Han Period (206?BCE?220?CE) where they portrayed acrobatics. Like every sport, the person credited for making the sport famous was Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, founder of the Turnverein movement as he helped to spread gymnastics across the world. Most of the exercises were conducted on the playground. Therefore, various events came into existence. They held the first Gymnastics festival in 1860 in Coburg. The Americans were introduced to Gymnastics in the late 1820s while the Federation Internationale Gymnastique was founded in 1881 to organize the event. The 1896 Olympic Games saw the starting stages of gymnastics being introduced to the world.? The Sport There are three divisions of artistic gymnastics- artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline. There are six events for men and the all around event where they combine scores from every discipline. For women, there are four exercises and a similar all around event, both team and individual events. Apart from artistic gymnastics, there is rhythmic gymnastics and is practiced only by women. Trampoline is the other discipline of gymnastics and introduced itself at the 2000 Olympic Games. As years pass by, various gymnasts showcased their athletic skills to the masses in attendance. TOKYO, JAPAN &#8211; AUGUST 03: Simone Biles of Team United States competes in the Women&#8217;s Balance Beam Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) Famous gymnasts in the world Simone Biles: In terms of pure dominance, Simone Biles enters the list as arguably the greatest gymnast of all time. She is the most decorated gymnast in the World Championships, winning four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. The 2016 Rio Olympics saw her winning four gold medals and completely dominated the events. She has 25 World Championships medals to her name and her stance on mental health helps her become an influential person in the society. Larisa Latynina: Winning nine gold medals at the Olympics is astonishing and Larisa Latynina ranks on top of the famous gymnast charts. After Michael Phelps, she has the most Olympic medals with 18. She popularized the sport of gymnastics and was the first star in the sport. Her iconic performances will go down to the gymnastics folklore. Nadia Comaneci of Romania performs her routine on the Balance Beam during the Women&#8217;s ArtisticTeam all-around event on 19 July 1976 during the XXI Olympic Summer Games at the Montreal Forum, Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Don Morley/Getty Images) ) Nadia Comaneci: Achieving a perfect 10.0 score in gymnastics is amazing. But, doing it at the Olympics, when just turning 14, placed Nadia Comaneci amongst the pantheon of greats. The 1976 Olympics saw her earning seven perfect scores. She won five Olympic gold medals out of the nine she won. Svetlana Khorkina: With a total of 47 Olympic, World and European Championships medals, Svetlana Khorkina is a remarkable gymnast. She became the first gymnast to win three all-around titles at the World Championships while winning five gold medals in the uneven bars at World Championships. Her success in the uneven bars earned her the moniker &#8216;The Queen of Bars.&#8217; &nbsp; &nbsp;

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"I Lost My Whole Childhood": Suni Lee Wants To Experience 'Normal' Youth Away From Gymnastics

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Lee feels everything was taken away from her by the sport

?I don’t know how to have fun”- Suni Lee