Suni Lee has revealed she had an emotional breakdown on the eve of Team USA’s first gymnastics event at the Paris Olympics, before teammate Simone Biles helped bring her back around.
Lee, 21, enjoyed a superb Olympics in the French capital after sweeping up bronze medals in the all-around and uneven bars events and also claiming gold in the team final.
Yet before the gymnastics competition got underway, the American star had a major late-night wobble the previous evening, which has been a regular occurrence throughout her career.
‘It’s like a ritual,’ she said about her tendency to cry the night before competitions in an interview with Glamour.
As Lee became overwhelmed, fellow Team USA hopeful Jordan Chiles – who was controversially stripped of a bronze medal over the summer – made the decision to go and wake up the more experienced Biles. ‘”Simone, Suni’s panicking,”‘ Chiles, 23, is said to have told the 27-year-old.
Suni Lee has revealed she had an emotional breakdown on the eve of the Paris Olympics
It was then when Biles pulled out some crucial advice to Lee, who won an all-around gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, in order to help calm her down.
She recalls the USA gymnastics icon telling her: ‘”You need to walk around like you’re the reigning Olympic champion, and you need to own it.
‘”You need to remind yourself that you’re good enough, and you are on this team for a reason.”‘
After the late-night pep talk from Simone, Lee went on to help Team USA prevail in the team final, before adding two more medals to her Olympic collection.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, nevertheless, as the Minnesota-born gymnast’s final outing saw her fall off the beam in a disastrous ending to her Games.
‘This was the main one, because I always make it into the beam final, and something always goes wrong,’ she admitted. ‘I was so sad.
‘The first thought that came to my head was like, “Oh my gosh, I’m about to be a meme on Twitter.” And then I went on TikTok, and I made one myself. I can make fun of myself because at the end of the day, it’s just a competition.’
Lee was eventually calmed down after some priceless advice from teammate Simone Biles
The Team USA gymnastics star features on the cover of this month’s Glamour Magazine
Lee insists she is proud of her display in Paris, where she claimed three Olympic medals
Though despite the disappointing end, Lee still left Paris with her head held high after battling back from kidney disease to medal again on the biggest stage.
‘That wasn’t how I wanted to end my Olympics in Paris, and I was a little disappointed, but at the end of the day, I was super proud of myself because I made it to the Olympics,’ she said. ‘I didn’t even think that I was going to be here.
‘I’m at such a better place in my life, not even just physically but mentally, to where I can accept everything that’s happened. Not many people get to come here twice and compete with the best of the best. I just felt absolutely amazing.
‘And now I’ve learned to really take everything in, and I think that’s why I’m so happy with all of my medals.’
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