Advertisement

Suni Lee: there was a point in time where I wanted to quit

After her remarkable, gold medal-winning performance in the women's individual all-around final, Suni Lee opens up about the obstacles she's faced, as well as the pressure to perform in the absence of Simone Biles.

Video transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SUNI LEE: The past two years have been absolutely crazy with COVID, and just my family, and everything else. This medal definitely means a lot to me because there was a point in time when I wanted to quit. And I just didn't think I would ever get here, including injuries and stuff.

So there are definitely a lot of emotions. But I'm super proud of myself for sticking with it and believing in myself. Because this medal would not be possible without my coaches, the medical team, my parents. And it just is so surreal. And I haven't even let it sink in yet.

I was starting to put a little bit too much pressure on myself knowing that Simone was gone. I feel like people kind of put that pressure on me that I had to come back with a medal. So I try not to think about it. And that's what they told me to do. To just focus on myself and do what they normally do because that's when I compete the best.

I just kind of like had to switch gears. Because like I said, we were coming in to compete for second place. So when the opportunity was there, I knew that I had to do what I'd normally do. Because I feel like this whole season, I've been second to her. So I just did my due best. Didn't focus on it though because I knew that I would get in my head and probably do really bad. But I stayed focused throughout the whole thing.