Suni Lee’s tale of returning to the Olympics was no less than one of a warrior. Fighting two incurable diseases in her kidneys, she could hardly walk up the stairs and used to vomit regularly during training. But she didn’t give up on her dream to return to the Olympics after a successful campaign in 2021 and do it all over again. Thus, after numerous roadblocks, she made it through to the trials and booked a ticket to Paris.

In Paris, her success continued as she repeated her Tokyo fate, winning three Olympic medals. It was an incredible thing to witness. The fact that Suni matched her performance three years ago after so much was amazing. However, the gymnast now claims that not only did she match her Tokyo heroics, but she was a better gymnast in Paris.

During both campaigns, Suni won the bronze medal in the uneven bars. But, on October 22nd, she shared a post by the handle of the Olympics on her Instagram story showing her performance at the bars of both campaigns side by side. This prompted a response from Suni Lee, where she claimed that her routine in Paris was much better and ‘cleaner’ than the one in Tokyo.

She said, “Haha, omg, I haven’t watched my 2020 bar routine since the Olympics, my trauma. Also, my bars now are so much cleaner than before. Why didn’t anyone tell me?” At Tokyo, Suni Lee had scored 15.300 in uneven bars in the all-around competition, helping her earn the gold medal in the category.

However, she could only manage the bronze medal in the uneven bars finals, as she scored 14.500 after coming out first and missing a lot of connections. Her podium place was only confirmed after underperformance by numerous athletes. Thus, a foul taste might still remain in her mouth because of that competition. In fact, she had said in an interview that she wanted redemption on the apparatus. Suni shared, “I told myself I was coming back to redeem myself on bars.”

While she managed a bronze on uneven bars in Paris again, she scored 14.800 this time with much better connections. During the routine, Suni performed a van Leeuwen, following it up with a big straddle Jaeger to Pak to Maloney to Gienger before dismounting. Thus, even though the medals were the same, her feelings for both of them were different. She also had to face stronger competition in Paris with Kaylia Nemour and Qiu Qiyuan, taking the first two spots. Thus, this bronze was more significant.

It also doesn’t help that the Tokyo campaign had been traumatic for her because of certain issues. After the competition happened, and everything mostly went well for her. But she nevertheless had to face the wrath of supporters who were agitated by Simone Biles’ withdrawal from competition. However, she decided to fight back and spoke out in an NBC interview, saying, “We don’t owe you a gold medal. You’re not the one competing.”

This made fans rally behind her and support the US team. Thus, both of Suni Lee’s Olympic journeys have been eventful, sometimes not in a good way. But no one can deny her success in it with six medals. This should be remembered right now as uncertainty surrounds her future after Paris.

The uncertainty behind Suni Lee’s future

But she barely had time to catch her breath before popping up at New York Fashion Week, looking every bit the off-court star. And if that wasn’t enough, she snagged a spot as one of Glamour’s Women of the Year. The athlete’s life doesn’t stop, though, and the big question looms—what’s next for the gymnast?

When Suni was asked this question in an interview with Yahoo Sports, she wasn’t really enthusiastic about it and let out a sigh before saying, “The Olympics just happened, so I am trying to give myself a little bit of grace and let my body and my mental health rest as much as possible because my body went through a lot, especially with the kidney disease, then getting COVID, having to deal with the injuries as well.”

While she hasn’t decided anything yet, she feels somewhat satisfied about her career if she doesn’t return. “And if I don’t, then I feel like I had a really good career,” said Suni. Thus, there is a big possibility that we won’t see her return to the mat again. But, with her six Olympic medals and tied for third place among the most decorated American woman gymnasts of all time, it is safe to say that her gymnastics legacy is already secured.