When Simone Biles got a case of the twisties during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, gymnast Suni Lee stepped up to compete in the women’s all-around. It was definitely her opportunity to shine, and she took full advantage of it. Lee ended up winning gold.
After the Olympics were over, 18-year-old Lee started a new chapter of her life. She started college at Auburn University, but she did not leave gymnastics behind. Instead, she is part of the school’s gymnastics team while she purses a degree in Business Marketing.
Lee enjoys the switch from attending school online to hanging out with friends and teammates. She told the Auburn University Newsroom, “When you’re an elite gymnast, it’s so hard because you have to sacrifice so many things and you can’t hang out with friends—like you have to do online school. So, coming here it feels like a relief because like I get to go out with my friends and like have fun. And the (gymnastics) team here is just amazing. When you’re competing by yourself, you’re literally just by yourself all the time. So, when I’m here, I just feel like I’m a lot happier and I’m just really excited.”
It seems that competing as a team and feeling “a lot happier” is working well for Lee because she is certainly excelling in gymnastics and even making college gymnastics history.
At a recent meet, Lee made history by landing a very difficult routine on the uneven bars. This is the first time the manuever, which is called the nabieva, had ever been performed in college gymnastics. That’s what happens when an Olympic gold medalist is on your team
Watch the video below to see Lee flawlessly perform the nabieva.
Suni Lee makes NCAA history again 🌟@sunisalee_ performed a nabieva, which has never been seen before in collegiate gymnastics! @AuburnGym pic.twitter.com/QLJPTdnvUL
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 26, 2022
The performance ultimately earned Lee a score of 9.975; however, she did later go on to earn a perfect 10 on the balance beam. You can see that performance below.
SUNI LEE SCORES HER FIRST COLLEGIATE PERFECT 10 ON BEAM 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Bys8UkDqZg
— ESPN (@espn) February 26, 2022
Do you think Lee will ever compete in the Olympics again? Does it surprise you that she’s making history in college gymnastics?