Since her outstanding performance at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Sunisa Lee has captured the hearts of gymnastics fans worldwide. The Olympic year 2024 has come bearing good news for gymnastics fans as Suni Lee prepares to make her comeback at the Winter Cup 2024 after a challenging year. 2023 saw Suni Lee cut short her NCAA career at Auburn University and sit out Team USA’s World Championships and Pan Am Games selection camp due to health issues related to her kidneys. Reflecting on the tumultuous period before her grand comeback, Suni Lee has revealed how she grappled with her emotions in the past year, leaving her ‘rotting in bed.’

Suni Lee opens up about how her kidney disease affected her mental health

In an exclusive interview with Olympic.com, Suni Lee opened up about the health and mental hurdles she faced in 2023, as well as her aspirations for 2024 before her grand comeback. Suni has spent most of last year struggling with her kidney disease, which is incurable. Lee faced mental health challenges during her time away from gymnastics, feeling lonely and depressed at times. Suni Lee said, “During that time, I was honestly not doing a lot of anything good for me, I was just kind of rotting in my bed and hoping that it would all go away.”

She also credited her support system and coach, Jess Graba, for helping her through this tough period. She shared, “He’s part of the reason why I got back out of my slump.” Suni Lee, now ready to come back, is prioritizing her health and well-being. So how does she plan to conquer the Olympic year in terms of the gymnastics challenges ahead?

Her 2024 goals also revealed

Now back in action, Sunisa Lee’s plans and goals ahead, along with her approach to the challenges of the Olympic year, are crystal clear. Suni has learned to set smaller, more achievable goals for herself instead of focusing solely on the Olympics. She disclosed her immediate aim to excel at the Winter Cup and, optimistically, secure a place in the Baku World Cup, where she intends to introduce a new skill to the sport’s Code of Points. She told Olympics.com, “I honestly haven’t really been thinking about the Olympics. I feel like my biggest goal right now is to get this skill named in Baku, that’s just been the only thing on my mind.”

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Lee has also discussed that she and her coach, Jess Graba, are setting achievable goals, focusing on quality training, and maintaining patience and perspective as she prepares for the challenges of the Olympic year. As she strives to fulfill these small goals, fans eagerly anticipate her participation, hoping to witness her success in reaching these milestones and carving her path toward Paris 2024.

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