[56] During the balance beam final, Lee placed fifth with a score of 13.866, after a large balance check on one of her elements. Lee brought home the United States' first gold medal in women's gymnastics this Olympics, as the Americans won silver in .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}the team competition earlier this week. Watch Lee's winning uneven bars all-around routine here: Though Lee was, of course, thrilled about her win, grinning widely and giving out hugs, few were more excited than Lee's friends and family back home, who broke out into cheers after she earned gold. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. When gymnastics superstar Biles dropped out of the team finals and the all-around contest, Lee became the de-facto leader and helped Team USA secure the silver medal behind Russia, who scored the gold. [7][8] Lee was raised by her mother's longtime partner, John Lee, from the age of two. [31], At the 2019 U.S. National Championships, Lee competed all four events on the first day of competition and was in second place in the all-around behind Simone Biles and in first place on uneven bars. Jamie Squire/Getty Images Lee is congratulated by teammate Jade Carey after . And no way was John Lee going to miss this. 'I didn't think I would ever be here,' says Sunisa Lee after winning Here's everything to know about the teen gymnastics star on Team USA Suni Lee: Suni has been doing gymnastics for 12 years. He and his wife drove from Minneapolis with their three youngest children, Evionn, Lucky and Noah. The year 2019 was a roller coaster year for Suni Lee. Lee was photographed right after she found out she won the gold medal. In August of 2019, her father fell off a ladder and injured his spinal cord, leaving him partially paralyzed. [52], During the team final, Lee was initially set to compete only on uneven bars and balance beam. It would be the greatest accomplishment of any Hmong person in the US ever, her dad previously told Elle for a profile story on the star gymnast. Simone Biles celebrated the father of fellow gold medalist Suni Lee by helping to give John Lee a new electric wheelchair on Today. In the world of elite gymnastics, these young women can either go pro and accept sponsorship deals and endorsements, or head to college and compete on the school's gymnastics team. As Suni Lee looks forward to challenging for the podium spot in the gymnastics individual category, let's find out how her father helped her in realising her dreams. He broke his right wrist and several ribs, but worst of all . Gymnastics Championships", "Biles debuts unprecedented Yurchenko double pike vault en route to fifth GK U.S. Classic title", "Peacock Lays Out Olympics "Destination" With Live Shows, Five New Channels, Original Programming", "Biles wins seventh national all-around championship, most in U.S. women's gymnastics history", "Biles locks up spot on Olympic gymnastics team", "Suni Lee going to Tokyo Olympics after rare win over Simone Biles on Sunday at US gymnastics qualifying", "Meet the U.S. Women's Olympic Gymnastics Team for Tokyo", "U.S. women qualify to Olympic team competition final behind top-three all-around performances by Biles, Lee", "ROC wins women's team gold medal, ending Team USA's decade long reign", "American Sunisa Lee Wins the Olympic Women's Gymnastics All-Around Gold", "Sunisa Lee wins gold in gymnastics all-around in Tokyo Olympics", "Sunisa Lee's dream Olympics continue with unlikely bronze medal in uneven bars", "Simone Biles Wins Bronze in Her Only Tokyo Olympics Individual Event, Sunisa Lee Takes Fifth", "St. Paul mayor declares Sunisa Lee Day in honor of Olympic champion", "No.