The reigning Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee recently took the whole world by surprise by announcing her career pause due to an incurable illness. The 20-year-old world champion gymnast on the 16th of November 2023 opened up about the trials and tribulations she went through while suffering from the scary kidney disease. She faced a long list of concerns and discomfort that absolutely scared her. From gaining 45 lbs to having eyes that won’t open due to swelling, the gymnast was in a bizarre state.

However, after this derailing of her career, she has now progressed a lot as compared to when she found out about the disease in February and is looking up to the 2024 Olympics. Suni’s college career at Auburn University along with other sources, extended financial support for her treatments. However, after this major decision to drop her college career, the gymnast is already indulged in her Paris Olympics training.

Suni Lee’s journey from illness to the Paris Olympics 2024

This unfortunate journey of Sunisa suffering from an incurable kidney disease started on a very sudden note. This did not just upset the gymnast but all the gymnastics enthusiasts and her fans who looked up to her performances. After announcing her step back from her university on the 3rd of April went through a very tough phase medically.

The non-gymnastic kidney issue made her gain around 45 lbs and she couldn’t even open her eyes because of the swelling. Lee expressed, “I just kept getting more swollen… and I think I gained like 40 pounds”. Adding further to it, she said, “My eyes were swollen shut. It was just so scary”. She never specified the actual condition she is facing as her doctors have the belief that the diagnosis can change based upon additional testing. However, after a span of some months with proper care and medication, she has progressed much more than before. In a recent interview on the 16th of November stated, “I’m feeling good”.

With her passion to compete in the upcoming Olympics, she has no intention of backing down. Her doctors are still finding the ideal amalgamation of medicine and treatment plans so that she can focus on her training. One of the biggest side effects of this scary disease is the toll it took on the gymnast’s mental health and confidence.

She expressed, “Sometimes you don’t think that you’re even capable of winning anymore”. She further added, “I feel like my mindset switched to the way it was before, where I’m like, okay, now I’m just competing for second”. However, the reigning all-around Olympic champion has her priorities set and is training her best to nab the 2024 Olympics prize after so much struggle.

The Paris 2024 training of the reigning Olympic champion 

After ending her sophomore year early and missing the world championships, there is nothing stopping Suni Lee from displaying her stellar skills at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has started her training with full force and her eyes sight on the prize of the upcoming Olympics.

After this disease, she is implementing a different approach in her training. She stated, “We’re still working on trying to figure out how to balance all of it because I do have good days and bad days”. The gymnast is still struck by the sudden changes that took place in her life. She declined the World Championships because she wanted herself to be perfectly fine for the 2024 Olympics.

She expressed, “Obviously the Olympics are always going to be in the back of my head”. She shared several updates about her training on her Instagram account too. Lee once shared a video of her performing a flip on the gymnastics bar. She with full speed ran to the bar and jumped from it doing a somersault. There was another video where she was seen hanging on a gymnastics pole and using her body force to do rounds about it. She is keeping her safety and has doubled her efforts while training to do her best in the Olympics.

Achievements of Sunisa Lee

Olympian Sunisa Lee has made her mark with her stellar performances in the gymnastics realm. This rising star emerged as the US Gymnastics team’s top challenger for the 2020-21 Olympics. She has attained commendable accomplishments at the age of 20. She is the first Hmong-American Olympian and is also the first Asian American woman to win the Olympic all-around title.

She became the Olympic all-around champion in 2020 and also bagged a bronze medal in uneven bars. With this, she was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and a silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Sunisa Lee is a six-time member of the US women’s national gymnastics team, and with six world championships and Olympic medals, she is counted amongst some of the top gymnasts as the tenth most decorated American female gymnast.

Read more: “Just Come Back”: As Suni Lee Struggles with Kidney Disease, Gymnastics Fans Urge For Her Comeback

Lee has also received multiple awards. She was named the Female Athlete of the Year in 2021 by Sports Illustrated. Following this, she was also named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation and made it to Time’s annual list of 100 most influential people in the world. Now, the champion is ready to turn some heads with her staunch performances at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

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