The crowds gathered at Hoffman Estates, Illinois, earlier this month witnessed gymnastics brilliance. One of the gymnasts who shone the brightest was Sunisa Lee. The 20-year-old athlete proved that her kidney issues had not slowed her down by scoring more than the legendary Simone Biles in the first round of the 2023 Core Hydration Classic.

Suni Lee was feeling anxious before the competition began. She felt that her body would not support her to perform at her best despite the arduous practice sessions she had put in. However, to her amazement, she earned a 14.5 score and outdid major gymnastics competitions. This win has given her more confidence to take on another challenge at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, but Suni Lee has decided to temper her ambitions with realistic expectations.

Gymnastics star Sunisa Lee approaches U.S. Championships with cautious optimism

Sunisa Lee explained that her body is disallowing her from coming back to the sport in full form. She said, ?I?m not even really supposed to be doing gymnastics right now?. Lee has been taking medications and working out in the gym to manage her symptoms before the U.S. Gymnastics Championships scheduled for August 25.

Recently, U.S. Championships released the rotation schedule that showed Suni Lee only registered for the beam and vault event. As per an X post from a fan named Scott Bregman, ?USAGym has confirmed to me that Suni did not petition to compete additional events at Championships?.

This shocked the gymnastics community because Sunisa Lee had expressed different plans earlier.

Suni Lee?s gymnastics coach Jess Graba had said that they would make real-time decisions on the events the athlete would compete in after the U.S. Classics. Graba had shared that Lee was preparing to compete in at least three events which included a half-routine on the uneven bars, another one on the beam, and a full routine for the vault.

However, after her comeback to elite gymnastics at the Classics, Lee and her team decided to change their plans. The gymnastics world believes that Lee should be given a pass on her qualifying score, considering her previous achievements. This has sparked another debate about whether Suni Lee deserves special treatment because of her past accomplishments.

Heated debate ignites

Jess Graba had previously mentioned that they would be petitioning the U.S. National Championships to allow her to participate in all of the events despite not taking part in them at the U.S. Classics. But Graba?s argument has not sat well with many fans because she wants all Olympic AA gold medalists to be given a free pass to the Nationals. That includes the iconic Gabby Douglas, who remained absent from the gymnastics world after her 2016 Olympic games.

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Fans are divided in their opinion on the matter where one side believes that the Olympic AA champions deserve an automatic entry to the Nationals and the other believes that the athlete must prove their mettle in the championship first. In response, the committee even lowered the AA qualification score to 50.500 from 51.000. However, now Sunisa Lee has decided to participate in just one event as per the rules set by the committee.

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