Meet Suni Lee, the USA gymnast who fought back from career-threatening kidney disease to clinch gold at Paris Olympics

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When Suni Lee was diagnosed with two incurable kidney diseases in 2023, it felt like she was going to have to bid goodbye to the one thing she loved with all her heart — gymnastics.

A year later, Lee is an Olympic gold medallist.

Paris 2024 is Lee’s second Olympics. The 21-year-old gymnast competed in the Tokyo 2020 Games and clinched a gold medal in the all-around event.

Lee, then just 18, quickly became an American sensation and began studying at Auburn University after the Tokyo 2020 Games. The perils of popularity were grave—she had stalkers lining up everywhere she went, and she was forced to settle for online classes because the attention she received on campus was overwhelming.

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In an interview with the New York Times, she discussed how online criticism and social media trolling kept her awake at night. Trolls claimed that she wasn’t deserving of her gold medal. The constant criticism and her inordinate popularity pushed Lee into depression and loneliness. At times, all Lee wanted was to go back to a life of normalcy and privacy.

“In my head, I already don’t think that I should have won, so when you see it from other people and that many people are saying the same thing over and over and that I just suck and all this stuff, it’s like very hard mentally,” she told the Times. “For so many different reasons since Tokyo, I had to really grow up, and fast.”

Last year, Lee was faced with the biggest challenge of all — her body had swollen up, and after a lot of medical tests, doctors announced that she was battling kidney issues.

She had to stop training quickly and drop out of college to move back to her hometown, Minnesota. Medications for her kidney disease had strong side effects like overeating and fatigue, and she gained almost 45 pounds. She did return to the gym to practice, but her body still wasn’t cooperating, and her performances were good, but not what she had expected.

In early January this year, she finally received a call from her doctor, who cleared her to return to full-fledged practice and gymnastics.

“We didn’t think I would be here,” Lee said on the “Today” show. “There were so many times where I thought about quitting and just giving up because I was so sick, and it was just so hard to stay motivated, watching everybody get better, and I’m just like I can’t even get back into the gym and constantly doubting myself. But once I had those people around me who lifted me up and supported me and just made sure that I was good, I knew that this is something that I wanted.”

On Tuesday, Lee staged a comeback that she thought would be impossible. She participated in three rotations and powered Team USA to a gold medal. Later this week, the all-around defending champion will aim for another gold in the individual event.

“This comeback was so much more than my return to elite gymnastics,” Lee posted on Instagram. “It was me proving to myself that I can overcome hard things, and to hopefully inspire others to never let life’s setbacks stop you from going after your dreams.”