Olympics-Gymnastics-Lee overcomes illness, criticism to return to Olympic podium

By Karen Braun

PARIS (Reuters) - While warming up a high-flying release move minutes prior to her routine on the asymmetric bars in Thursday’s Olympic all-around final, gymnast Sunisa Lee missed her grip and slammed hard onto the mat, drawing gasps from a packed Bercy Arena in Paris.

But that slip-up was an insignificant blip compared with the battles the 2020 Tokyo champion has faced in the last three years, ones that caused her to seriously doubt she could ever return to competition let alone the Olympic medal podium.

The 21-year-old American was diagnosed last year with two serious kidney diseases and doctors told her she might not be able to compete again.

She was on bed rest for weeks and took five months off from gymnastics as she experienced the side effects of medications used to treat her symptoms.

“I mean, literally, six months ago I didn't even consider I would be here competing today,” Lee told reporters in Paris after finishing with an all-around bronze.

Lee also dealt with hate after snagging all-around gold in Tokyo, a contest from which fellow American Simone Biles withdrew suffering from the “twisties,” and the Minnesota native said she suffered from imposter syndrome.

“There's just been so much doubt in like, 'Oh, she shouldn't have won Olympics, blah, blah, blah,' and it really hits my soul," Lee told ESPN in an early 2022 interview.

But Lee blocked out that negativity, and fought back following a modest opening performance on the vault, to earn her fifth Olympic medal on Thursday.

“Right now I'm just proud to be where I'm at and doing the things that I'm doing, because nobody really believed in me. It's about not giving up,” she said.

In the final rotation, Lee needed a strong showing on floor exercise to hold off challengers from Italy and Algeria for bronze, and she was in business from the first tumble, which she stuck cold, prompting a gigantic smile.

Her stunning floor work helped the emotional Lee edge Italy’s Alice D’Amato by just 0.132 of a point, allowing her to exhale knowing she had secured a medal and cheer Biles on to victory over Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade.

Although a veteran herself, Lee lends a lot of credit to her teammate.

“Having Simone here today definitely helped me a lot because we were both freaking out, so it just felt nice to know that I wasn’t out there freaking out by myself,” she said.

“It was great to be out there with her and do it the right way this time.”

(Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, editing by Pritha Sarkar)