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Sunisa Lee
Sunisa "Suni" Phabsomphou Lee (/suːˈniːsə ˈsuːni/ soo-NEE-sə SOO-nee; née Phabsomphou; born March 9, 2003) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around gold medalist and uneven bars bronze medalist and the 2024 Olympic all-around and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was the 2019 World Championship silver medalist on the floor and bronze medalist on uneven bars. Lee was a part of the "Golden Girls" that won gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is also a two-time U.S. national champion on the uneven bars. In NCAA Gymnastics, she competed for the Auburn Tigers gymnastics team, winning a SEC title on uneven bars and an NCAA championship on balance beam. She is the third female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles, following Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian.
Lee is the first Hmong-American Olympian. She is also reported to be the first woman of Hmong descent and first Asian American woman to win the Olympic all-around title. She is a six-time member of the U.S. women's national gymnastics team, and with nine world championship and Olympic medals, she is the seventh-most-decorated American female gymnast.
Lee has received numerous honors and awards. In 2021, she was named Female Athlete of the Year by Sports Illustrated, named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation, and included in Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She also received an Asia Game Changer Award. She has won the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award at the 2025 ESPY Awards.
Lee was born Sunisa Phabsomphou on March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Yeev Thoj, a healthcare worker. Lee is of Hmong descent, and her mother, a refugee, immigrated to the United States from Laos as a child. Lee was raised by her mother's longtime partner, John Lee, from the age of two and considers him to be her father. She began using his surname professionally as a teenager. Lee has three half-siblings through her mother's relationship with Lee, and Lee had two children from a previous relationship. Her sister Evionn also competed in artistic gymnastics at the regional level.
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. When Lee started doing backflips outdoors, it became clear to her parents that she needed a safer venue to hone her skills. They registered her for gymnastics classes at Midwest Gymnastics Center in Little Canada, Minnesota, where she started training under coach Punnarith Koy. The following year, Lee won the all-around at a state meet, the second competition of her career. At age eight, she moved up three levels, and she qualified for elite at age 11. Koy coached Lee from age six to about 12, when she switched to Jess Graba, who has coached her ever since.
Lee competed in the Hopes division in 2015, became a junior elite in 2016, and made her junior elite debut at the 2016 U.S. Classic. She earned a spot on the junior national team in 2017 and debuted internationally at the Gymnix International Junior Cup where the U.S. team won the gold medal in the team event. Lee captured the silver on uneven bars. In May 2017, Lee announced her verbal commitment to Auburn University on a gymnastics scholarship.
Lee was named to the team to compete at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, which took place in April 2018. She won gold with the U.S. team in the team final. She also secured the silver medal on vault, balance beam, and in the floor exercise. She placed 4th in the all-around. A month later, she withdrew from the Pan American Junior Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after sustaining an ankle injury.
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. 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. She came third in the all-around behind Wong and DiCello. She won gold on the uneven bars.
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Sunisa Lee
Sunisa "Suni" Phabsomphou Lee (/suːˈniːsə ˈsuːni/ soo-NEE-sə SOO-nee; née Phabsomphou; born March 9, 2003) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around gold medalist and uneven bars bronze medalist and the 2024 Olympic all-around and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was the 2019 World Championship silver medalist on the floor and bronze medalist on uneven bars. Lee was a part of the "Golden Girls" that won gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is also a two-time U.S. national champion on the uneven bars. In NCAA Gymnastics, she competed for the Auburn Tigers gymnastics team, winning a SEC title on uneven bars and an NCAA championship on balance beam. She is the third female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles, following Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian.
Lee is the first Hmong-American Olympian. She is also reported to be the first woman of Hmong descent and first Asian American woman to win the Olympic all-around title. She is a six-time member of the U.S. women's national gymnastics team, and with nine world championship and Olympic medals, she is the seventh-most-decorated American female gymnast.
Lee has received numerous honors and awards. In 2021, she was named Female Athlete of the Year by Sports Illustrated, named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation, and included in Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She also received an Asia Game Changer Award. She has won the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award at the 2025 ESPY Awards.
Lee was born Sunisa Phabsomphou on March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Yeev Thoj, a healthcare worker. Lee is of Hmong descent, and her mother, a refugee, immigrated to the United States from Laos as a child. Lee was raised by her mother's longtime partner, John Lee, from the age of two and considers him to be her father. She began using his surname professionally as a teenager. Lee has three half-siblings through her mother's relationship with Lee, and Lee had two children from a previous relationship. Her sister Evionn also competed in artistic gymnastics at the regional level.
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. When Lee started doing backflips outdoors, it became clear to her parents that she needed a safer venue to hone her skills. They registered her for gymnastics classes at Midwest Gymnastics Center in Little Canada, Minnesota, where she started training under coach Punnarith Koy. The following year, Lee won the all-around at a state meet, the second competition of her career. At age eight, she moved up three levels, and she qualified for elite at age 11. Koy coached Lee from age six to about 12, when she switched to Jess Graba, who has coached her ever since.
Lee competed in the Hopes division in 2015, became a junior elite in 2016, and made her junior elite debut at the 2016 U.S. Classic. She earned a spot on the junior national team in 2017 and debuted internationally at the Gymnix International Junior Cup where the U.S. team won the gold medal in the team event. Lee captured the silver on uneven bars. In May 2017, Lee announced her verbal commitment to Auburn University on a gymnastics scholarship.
Lee was named to the team to compete at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, which took place in April 2018. She won gold with the U.S. team in the team final. She also secured the silver medal on vault, balance beam, and in the floor exercise. She placed 4th in the all-around. A month later, she withdrew from the Pan American Junior Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after sustaining an ankle injury.
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. 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. She came third in the all-around behind Wong and DiCello. She won gold on the uneven bars.