2024 Paris Olympics: Gymnast Suni Lee surprises herself by winning a bronze

USA GYMNASTICS

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, left, and bronze medalist Suni Lee celebrate Thursday.

Winning a bronze medal in the all-around gymnastic competition was a surprise to Suni Lee Aug. 1 at the Paris Olympics. 

"It felt absolutely amazing. I was in shock," Lee told NBC's Today show the morning after she was awarded the bronze. "I didn't think that I was going to be able to podium."

Lee won her second consecutive all-around medal by securing bronze Thursday night at Bercy Arena at the Paris Olympics. She celebrated as her teammate, Simone Biles  became the first woman since 1968 to win two Olympic all-around titles. 

Lee's first all-around medal was gold in Tokyo in 2021 after Biles dropped out due to mental health reasons. Her story is even more amazing in that last year, after contracting two kidney diseases, she was told she might never do competitive gymnastics again.

Thursday evening was an uncharacteristically nail-biting competition, with both Biles and Lee using nearly flawless floor routines to earn their medals. Biles won with a score of 59.131, with Rebecca Andrade of Brazil second with 57.932 and Lee third with 56.465.

Biles led after the first rotation, posting a competition-leading 15.766 with her Biles II on vault to take a .666 lead over Andrade, but a break on a connection while on uneven bars in the second rotation resulted in a score of 13.733, dropping her to third overall. Andrade took over the with a 29.766, with Kaylia Nemour of Algeria second with a 29.566 and Biles in third with a 29.499. After two rotations, Alice D’Amato of Italy ranked fourth with a 28.800 and Lee was on her heels with a 27.799, on the strength of a 13.933 on vault and 14.866 on uneven bars.

The Hmong American gymnast continued, "Coming in my floor routine, I literally told myself, we're just going to end it off the right way and I'm just going to do everything that I can to just finish it off, because being here is an accomplishment itself," E reported.

The third rotation on balance beam put both Americans on an apparatus where they often yield strong scores. Biles led off with a 14.566 to retake the lead with a 44.065, with Andrade trailing with a 43.899. Lee was tied for fourth with a 42.799 after posting a 14.000 on beam, just .034 behind D’Amato in third.

The medals were to be decided on floor exercise as Lee sought to leapfrog into third. Needing a 13.534 to overtake D’Amato for bronze, she posted a 13.666 that catapulted her into what would ultimately be bronze position. Biles then sealed the deal and thrilled the crowd with her best floor routine of the Paris games to date, scoring 15.066.

"From being told that I would never be able to do gymnastics again," she wrote on Instagram Aug. 2. "to winning my 5th olympic medal!!"

The Olympian continued, "This medal goes deeper than gymnastics. I can't even begin to express how much my health has taken away from me & the strength it has taught me, so to be here is the greatest achievement of all. grateful for the opportunity to be able to represent team USA at my second Olympic games! Thank you for all the support."

Lee and the rest of the USA women gymnastic team will go after more medals Saturday when the top athletes will compete on individual apparatus.

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