Sunisa Lee thought her gymnastics career might be over when she was stricken with debilitating illness last year and credited the people close to her for the astounding recovery that sees her depart the Paris Olympics with three medals.
Lee was bedridden eight months ago with two incurable kidney diseases but, with proper treatment and encouragement, bounced back to win a team gold medal, a bronze in the all-around and bronze on the asymmetric bars.
“I am doing a lot better now with the help of my doctors and my team,” Lee, all-around champion at the Tokyo Olympics, told Reuters.
“Having the support system definitely helped me a lot because there were times when I wanted to give up.”
Lee, 21, was part of the US squad at the Tokyo Games that had to settle for a bitter silver in the team event after its leader Simone Biles withdrew from most of the competition with mental health issues.
READ | With four medals, Biles proud of Paris achievement despite final day errors
The tight-knit veteran team openly sought redemption in Paris and got what it came for with victory in the team final.
“I feel absolutely amazing,” Lee said. “I’m so proud that I was able to overcome everything and that I never gave up because I couldn’t be happier with how I did at this Olympics, let alone even making the Olympics.”
She said her Paris teammates - who included Biles, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and newcomer Hezly Rivera - were quick to remind her to believe in herself.
“They basically told me that I need to walk around and act like I’m the reigning Olympic champion, just to boost my confidence up a little bit,” she said.
“They’re like, ‘When you’re in the gym, like you’re a little shy, you’re timid, you know, you are a little nervous’.
“So, I’m like, ‘Okay, like I’m just going to present myself in a certain way’. And I think it’s definitely helped with the confidence side.
“Having them there to lean on was absolutely amazing and I wouldn’t have made it through without them.”
While the tantalising Los Angeles Olympics are on the horizon in 2028, Lee said she planned to take things day by day.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen but the Olympics are in the US, so maybe,” she said.
“It’s not out of the picture but I’m not completely sure about it yet.”
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