Sunisa "Suni" Lee (/suːˈniːsə ˈsuːni/ soo-NEE-sə SOO-nee; née Phabsomphou; born March 9, 2003)[1][2] is an American artistic gymnast.

[13][14] Lee's interest in gymnastics was piqued at age six after watching Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on YouTube, and her father built a balance beam for her from a mattress.

[23] A month later, she withdrew from the Pan American Junior Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after sustaining an ankle injury.

[13] In July 2018, Lee competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she finished fifth in the all-around and won the gold medal on balance beam despite not doing a dismount.

[24] She was one of the favorites for the national junior title along with Leanne Wong, Jordan Bowers, and Kayla DiCello heading into the 2018 U.S. Championships in Boston.

[27] In the event finals, she placed first on the uneven bars and on floor, and third on the balance beam behind reigning world champion Liu Tingting of China and teammate Emma Malabuyo.

[29] After the conclusion of the event, Lee was among the eight athletes under consideration for the team to be fielded at the 2019 Pan American Games, but would have to compete at the 2019 U.S. Classic to secure her place.

She won gold on bars ahead of Morgan Hurd and placed fourth on beam behind Biles, Kara Eaker, and Leanne Wong.

The next day, Lee was chosen to represent the U.S. at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart alongside Biles, Kara Eaker, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum.

[39] Lee competed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor and helped the U.S. to gold in the team final ahead of Russia and Italy.

[43] In late January, it was announced that Lee would compete at the Stuttgart World Cup scheduled to take place in March,[44] but the event was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[59] In the all-around final, Lee posted a score of 14.600 on the vault, 15.300 on the uneven bars, 13.833 on beam and 13.700 on floor, leading all competitors with a 57.433 total overall.

She won the women's individual all-around gold ahead of Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and Angelina Melnikova of the Russian Olympic Committee.

[60] Lee is the sixth U.S. woman to claim the Olympic all-around title following Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin, Gabby Douglas, and Simone Biles.

[64] In recognition of her historic Olympic success, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the mayor of St. Paul, Melvin Carter, declared Friday, July 30, 2021, as "Sunisa Lee Day".

[70] On February 25, in a meet against Kentucky, Lee earned her first perfect ten on the balance beam and became the first collegiate gymnast to perform a Nabieva on the uneven bars.

[76] On April 3 Lee announced that she would end her sophomore season early due to her health issues, thus concluding her NCAA gymnastics career.

[77] In early August 2023, she made her comeback to elite gymnastics at the 2023 U.S. Classic, where she qualified for the U.S. Championships by scoring 14.500 on the balance beam and 13.500 on the vault.

[81] Lee was invited to attend the team selection camp for the World Championships and Pan American Games but chose not to participate, citing her kidney-related health issues.

[82] Lee began the 2024 season competing at the 2024 Winter Cup where she had rough performances on the uneven bars and balance beam.

At the Core Hydration Classic, Lee competed on floor exercise for the first time since the Tokyo Olympic Games, and placed first on balance beam.

[83] At the Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships, she competed with downgraded routines and a fall on vault, but finished fourth all-around and won a silver medal on beam.

As a result she was selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera.

[90] Lee has signed endorsement deals with Marriott, L'Oreal,[91] Invisalign,[92] Amazon, Gatorade, Target, and CLIF Bar.

[97] She was also hired by The LEGO Group, which featured her in its "Play Unstoppable" campaign alongside soccer star Megan Rapinoe, journalist and author Elaine Welteroth, and other inspiring women.

[107] Lee was featured in the six-episode YouTube Originals documentary series Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women's Gymnastics.

[110] She was the seventh Olympic gymnast to be a contestant on the show, following Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Simone Biles, and Mary Lou Retton.

[15] She enrolled at Auburn University in August 2021[66] as a business marketing major,[121] but left after her sophomore year due to health issues and in order to return to elite gymnastics with her sights set on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

[122][123] In August 2019, a few days before Lee competed in her first senior U.S. championships, her father suffered a spinal cord injury after falling off a ladder.

[125] In January 2022, she spoke about racist comments she had received from her own Hmong-American community about her relationship with then-boyfriend USC Trojans football player Jaylin Smith.