Minnesota Heaps Big Honors for Olympic Gold Medalist Suni Lee After Kidney Battles

There were many headlines surrounding Suni Lee‘s participation in the Paris Olympics. Indeed, most of them had doubts regarding her gymnastics career after she suffered from kidney disease. It wasn’t easy for her, but still, she was able to make it to the women’s team and was also able to achieve a few Olympic medals for her stellar career in Paris.

Lee was able to navigate through the difficult times that life had for her and secure Olympic glory, carrying her legacy from Tokyo to the French capital.  However, months after the feat, her club, the Midwest Gymnastics Center in Minnesota, honored her and her coaches for her accolades.

Suni Lee basking in the Olympic glory

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In gymnastics, the Olympic medals are some of the most desired ones from any level of gymnast. The youngsters are trained with a particular goal in mind, which is to earn that gleaming gold on the coveted stage. This time, Suni Lee secured her Olympic gold medal in the women’s team finals in Paris. However, this wasn’t the only medal of hers, as she also secured two bronze medals in the women’s all-around and uneven bars. Back in Tokyo, she also had three Olympic medals to her name—a gold in all-around, a silver in team, and a bronze in uneven bars.

All of these actions led to her receiving an honor from the Midwest Gymnastics Center, as reported by WCCO – CBS Minnesota on YouTube. During Thursday evening, a celebration was held for her and her coaches, Jess Graba and Alison Lim, appreciating their success at the pinnacle of the sport. MGC and Lee have their own history, as the gymnast spent her growing years training in the facility under many prominent names. She was a prodigy and eventually proved herself once she got on the mat in major events.

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Lee has successfully carried on her legacy, and her recent Olympic medals were truly exceptional. Why so? In early 2023, the American gymnast was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, and the symptoms were just heartbreaking. Indeed, she experienced swelling and was unable to participate in her regular training sessions. The issues became so severe that she considered quitting the sport, as it was putting too much strain on her. However, eventually, the disease went into remission, enabling her to compete in the Olympic Games, and the rest was history. But how has she progressed on the mat?

The gymnast doing self-comparisons of her skills on the mat

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Do you know what Suni Lee enjoys doing in the sport? She always compares her points to her previous performances and evaluates them to be better in the future. Indeed, it’s a great way to improve, and this is something that she did before going to Paris. “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?” said the gymnast after taking a look at her recent performance compared to the one from Tokyo.

Back in 2021, in the uneven bars in the all-around, she scored 15.300, getting Team USA the gold medal. However, during the same Olympic Games, she managed to secure a bronze medal in the uneven bars finals, despite her score of only 14.500. But she was determined this time in Paris, and it did reflect. While she managed to grab the bronze again in the uneven bars finals, this time it was with a 14.800, and she had better connections than the last time in Tokyo. Accepting mistakes and focusing on growth is undoubtedly a significant quality of the American gymnast!

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