PARIS, FRANCE: AUGUST 01: Sunisa Lee of the United States performs her balance beam routine in the Artistic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Final for Women at the Bercy Arena during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on August 1st, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Corbis via Getty Images
It’s only been two weeks since Suni Lee announced her gymnastics comeback, but the two-time Olympic gold medalist is already looking sharp. The 23-year-old officially resumed training on July 20, returning to her familiar stomping grounds at Midwest Gymnastics Center just outside St. Paul, Minnesota.
With just eight days of elite training back under her belt, Lee posted a quick teaser of training footage from inside the gym. Shared as an Instagram Story, the video showcased a striking display of skill from the six-time Olympic medalist. “Fun!” Lee casually captioned the short clip.
In the video, Lee trained the same acrobatic series she performed at the 2024 Olympic Games: an aerial cartwheel to two layout step-outs. Lee nailed the series in Paris to help propel Team USA to gold in the team final, and later claimed bronze in the all-around and on the uneven bars.
Two years later and after just a handful of days back in the gym, the former Olympic all-around champion clearly retained her elite ability. Though the video cut out before Lee landed the second layout-stepout, fans were stunned by Lee’s rapid return to form.
“I’ve kind of gotten my glow back,” Lee told CBS Minnesota last week at her first practice, adding that she brings newfound confidence to her run at a third-straight Olympic Games.
This time around, Lee hopes to pair that confidence with her full physical strength.
In Paris, she emerged as the third-best gymnast in the world and the fourth most-decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast of all time. However, Lee and her team insist that she wasn’t at full strength in France. In addition to grueling elite training demands, Lee battled severe kidney disease ahead of her second Olympic Games.
While his star pupil “gutted out” her results in Paris, Midwest Gymnastics owner and coach Jess Graba says Lee’s full athletic potential remains untapped. “She was probably at 65 or 70% of what she can do” in Paris, he reflected.
For her LA 2028 journey, Lee and her coaches are chasing that remaining 30%. She already has six Olympic medals – and if she finds another level of athleticism, the rest of the gymnastics world should be very worried.
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