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After Suni Lee won gold in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics, the Paris Games felt like a natural next step—a shoo-in, even—until a sudden bout of painful and distressing symptoms turned her world upside-down (and not in the adrenaline-fueled, mat-flip kind of way).
Last year, the now 21-year-old gymnast was diagnosed with two rare kidney diseases, which sidelined her training and rocked her physical and mental health for months.
Since then, Lee has shared snippets of health journey, and on June 30, she qualified for the Paris Games—where she’s already crushing her routines (in a dazzling leotard and sleek press-on nails, naturally).
On July 28, Lee qualified for the all-around final set for August 1—where she’ll face off against Simone Biles in a history-making event. And on July 30, Team USA dominated, taking home the gold in the women’s team final.
At her lowest point, though, Lee feared that competing in gymnastics ever again—let alone earning a medal at another Olympics—would be impossible, she told SELF for an October cover story last year. “We didn’t know what was possible. We didn’t know what was wrong with me,” she said. Below, we dive into everything Lee has shared about her kidney disease, from the jarring warning signs to how she’s feeling today.
