Lee has been doing backflips since she can remember.
Her father noticed her interest in gymnastics when she was still very young and encouraged her to keep going.
He even built a balance beam so Lee could practice her self-taught moves in the family’s backyard.
I always wanted to get better," she told theDaily Mail.
Lee and her father had always been thick as thieves.
What’s more is that his accident was taking a mental toll on Lee.
“She’s worked so hard for this,” he told Kare 11.
“I tell her don’t worry about me, just go and do well.”
Her coach was impressed with her performance.
“It didn’t surprise me that she was able to do it,” Graba said.
“She’s just such a tough competitor, she’s a tough kid.”
Lee attributed her stellar performance to her dad’s FaceTime call right before she competed.
He gave her the pep talk she needed and his excitement managed to hype Lee up for her performance.
In fact, she’s had to endure this unpleasant experience more times than she could ever have imagined.
In 2018, Lee suffered her first injury.
This time, she injured her ankle again and suffered a hairline fracture.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened.
“To have that taken away from us without having any control is very hard,” she toldElle.
“I went through a depressed phase, and it was hard to get out of.”
Lee recalled how she presented with classical symptoms of depression.
For weeks on end, she spent most of her time either crying or sleeping.
The worst part was that she couldn’t even keep up her practice routine because her gym was closed.
The closure lasted three months, which to Lee felt more like three years.
She had very bad nerves and anxiety before competing in her first Olympic Games
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Her teammates supported her, however, which made the whole situation less daunting for Lee.
Her uncle, a Hmong shaman, used to tend to Lee’s injuries with homeopathic medicine.
When she hurt her foot, he helped her heal faster with herbal medicines and ginger tea.
Lee couldn’t even attend their funeral in person and instead had to watch from afar over Zoom.
In 2021,Lee opened up about being the victim of a hate crimeduring this period.
I just let it happen," she toldPopsugar.
“It would be cool to show that we are more than what they say.
I don’t know how to explain that…” she said.
But then she woke up one morning and her entire body was swollen.
It took a whole month before doctors figured out that Lee had kidney disease.
She hasn’t shared what exactly her diagnosis is.
She had to end her sophomore season early because her doctors recommended she stop training and competing immediately.
Sunisa Lee told Self that this was her first thought when she received her diagnosis.
She could no longer train the way she used to, and her body felt different.
All these challenges make it even harder to stick to her training routine.
As a result, her confidence was at an all-time low.
This negatively impacted her concentration and just made all the pressure she felt that much worse.
She explained toOlympics.comthat juggling her training and doctor’s appointments proved challenging on the best of days.
“But I kept my eyes on Paris and took each day as it came.
Some days were battles, and some days I felt like the old me.”
