Why Sunisa Lee is the Moment
While Simone Biles made history with her seventh all-around win at this weekend’s U.S. National Championship, it was Sunisa Lee who came out the real winner tonight. As all can agree Simone is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), her win was just short of certain, so the real question in elite gymnastics competitions since 2013 has been, who can clinch the silver? Gymnastics is largely about who hits on the day, and in the 2021 U.S. Championships this weekend it was 18-year-old Sunisa Lee who won silver in the all-around and gold on uneven bars. This win is a repeat of her second place all-around finish in the 2019 U.S. Championships, but it matters so much more tonight. Here’s why:
Getting the obvious out of the way first: with the Olympics around the corner, Team USA needs the best of the best, and aside from Simone Biles, Lee is just that. With a difficulty rating of 6.8, she executes one of the most difficult uneven bar routines in the world, and she is a major contender for an Olympic gold medal on the event. She’s also an excellent all-arounder highly skilled in the other events, with a silver on the balance beam at this competition, and a silver medal on floor at the 2019 World Championships.
Less obvious is her growth since 2019, and the incredible mental strength she showed on both days of this competition. In the 2019 World Championships, she fell on uneven bars which knocked her from contention for the silver medal in the all-around. In this competition, she had no falls — not because there were no mistakes, but because she had the skill and experience to avoid falls in spite of them. On Night 1, she took out an expected layout step-out from her acrobatic series on beam, slightly lowering her difficulty but allowing her to stay on the apparatus amid a field of falls from her competitors, which ultimately rewarded her with the silver medal on beam. On Night 2 for the uneven bars, she didn’t have the momentum coming out of her initial Nabieva laid out release skill to connect into her usual series, and on the turn of a dime she decided to take out connections and adjust the order of her skills to make sure she stayed on the bars, which in combination with her difficulty rewarded her with the gold medal. She has the ability to pull out a winning routine even when things don’t go her way.
And despite all her strength in gymnastics, Sunisa is also an underdog with an inspiring story. Unlike many gymnasts on the circuit who don’t need to think about the cost, that’s not the case with Lee’s family, and they have held fundraisers and her coaches have waived fees to allow her to pursue gymnastics at its highest level. If she makes the team, she would also be the first Hmong American Olympic gymnast. Lee states that part of her motivation for competing would be to represent the Hmong-American community which has demonstrated deep support for her, and in an interview with Elle magazine her father stated that her competing in the Olympics “would be the greatest accomplishment of any Hmong person in the U.S. ever.” This is more important than ever at a time when there has been a surge in anti-Asian violence across the nation, and with her rising profile and sense of responsibility, Lee is well positioned to become a shining star and role model for both her country and her community.
This past two years has been unusually tough for Sunisa, with her father John Lee becoming paralyzed from the waist down in an accident right before her appearance at the 2019 U.S. Championships. Last year, her aunt and uncle died of COVID-19. And despite her strong showing on the U.S. Championships this year, Lee is competing on an injured Achilles heel and has reduced the difficulty in some of her routines as a result. Despite this, competitors watched in awe as Lee’s consistent performances gave her the silver all-around medal in this weekend’s competition. Overcoming injury and personal tragedies, she all but cemented her position as a favorite for the Olympic team, which will be officially decided at the U.S. Olympic Trials later this month.
Sunisa is poised to become a breakout star in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and we are here for it. Cheers to 2021 for Sunisa. It’s her year.