Suni Lee Says Paris Olympic Games Have Been Her 'Redemption Tour': It All 'Just Means So Much More' (Exclusive)
The gymnast, who earned three medals — one gold, two bronze — during the Paris Olympics, was completely sidelined by a chronic kidney disease just a year prior. There were days, she's detailed, that Lee, 21, couldn't get out of bed. "This has been my redemption tour from the last Olympics, and I've been trying to give myself grace for not being, I guess fully back to normal Suni," she tells PEOPLE at Team USA House on Aug. 5, after the balance beam final. "But ever since I got sick, I feel like normal Suni is — she's just a different girl now."
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00:00This time around, I think everything just means so much more because I didn't think that I would be here, and just knowing that I was able to overcome everything and never gave up was probably the most special moment, I guess, for me in winning all those medals.
00:15This has been my redemption tour from the last Olympics, and I've been trying to give myself grace for not being, I guess, fully back to normal Suni.
00:23But ever since I got sick, I feel like normal Suni is, she's just a different girl now. I'm better now, I'm more mature, I have a lot more fun, and yeah, I've just been enjoying every moment.
00:35It's been so fun. I think it's been really important for all of us just because we've had to overcome so much in the last couple of years, physically, mentally, anything.
00:45So now we're more mature, and we just really are enjoying everything. We love being together, we're such a great team. As you guys can tell, whenever we're out there, everything just clicks when we're together, so it's been an amazing time.