It all started in February 2023 when Suni Lee noticed her ankles, face, hands, and legs swelling up. At first, doctors thought it was just an allergic reaction, but when the swelling wouldn’t budge for weeks, they knew something was up. A gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, Lee had to deal with a heartbreaking revelation just over a year away from the Paris Games.

After rounds of testing, doctors hit her with the news—she had not one but two rare, incurable kidney diseases. As a result, she had to end her collegiate career and step away from training. In a tweet in April last year, she revealed, “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.”

This announcement sent shockwaves in the gymnastics community and there was an outpouring of support. Subsequently, Lee had to deal with her medical condition, as her Paris dream hung by a thread. Lee has teamed up with the American Kidney Fund to bring awareness to the risk of kidney disease through their “Know Your Kidneys” campaign. In a heartfelt chat with Fox 32 Chicago, she opened up about her tough journey with the diagnosis. She recalled the initial days when she found it hard to comprehend what was going on.

“I just kept getting more swollen… I think I gained, like, 40 pounds… I didn’t even recognize myself,” Lee shared. Reflecting on the shock of her diagnosis, she added, “It was very difficult. I always thought that I was super healthy, so waking up one day not really knowing what was going on was really scary.” The unexpected struggle hit hard, especially since gymnastics was her true love. She continued, “Of course not being able to do the one thing I love, which was gymnastics at the time, it was really difficult.”

After the Tokyo Olympics, Lee left her hometown, St. Paul, Minnesota, and moved to college at Auburn. As such when kidney disease diagnosis came through, Lee had to deal with it all alone. She mentioned, “It was really difficult just because I was in college as well. So I was away from my family. I didn’t have my normal doctors and just having to find like the right healthcare.”

Lee’s decision to move to Auburn was one not appreciated by her parents. Her father, John Lee said in an interview that he wanted Suni to “do some work, stay in Minnesota and go to school.”  Notably, kidney problems ran in the Lee family, something she was unaware of. Her mother Yeev Thoj said her brother died of kidney failure at 45, and her mother was “a little bit over 60” when she passed away due to the same ailment.

After the diagnosis, Lee had gotten weaker and couldn’t train. However, she soon received the approval to start training but another hurdle lay in its way. She had gotten weaker and had to tweak her training regime, something that was a challenge for her and her coaches. But by January things started to improve.

Lee told Sports Illustrated that the doctors told her that they could “knock down some of the medications” and that she was feeling better than before. Then at the Team USA Media Summit in April 2024. But things started to improve in January this year.

Speaking at the Team USA Media Summit in April 2024, Lee revealed that her condition is in remission and she was working to get back to her normal schedule.

Indeed, the role of her healthcare team was nothing short of monumental in her comeback to becoming an Olympic champion. Slowly and steadily, Lee clawed her way back to the gymnastics mat and ended up on the podium in Paris. But before she got there, Lee had another moment of dread to deal with.

Suni Lee relapsed ahead of Paris Olympics trials

As she was feeling confident on her road to recovery and her Olympic dreams were back on track, Lee felt health issues propping up again. Last month in an interview with Glamour, she said, “Nobody knows this, but the week before the Olympic trials, I had to get an infusion because I went into a relapse.”

Her body was swelling again and she felt fatigued, thus had a difficult time getting through training. But then she revealed she got an infusion that made a “world of difference.” She finished second at the trials, thus punching her ticket to Paris.

Lee competed at the Paris Olympics and her perseverance paid off, as she won three medals at the 33rd Summer Games in Paris. She helped USA to win team gold and then won bronze in the all-around final and the uneven bars final.

During her discussion with Fox 32, Lee said, “It’s really important for me just because of the impact that the American Kidney Fund has on the American kidney community and also just raising more awareness on kidney diseases is really important.”

Coming back from such adversity to triumph is a commendable feat and Lee wants to help others. She rolled up her sleeves and stayed committed to her goal, which culminated in a fairy tale finish in Pairs, despite being told she would never do gymnastics again.