Team USA’s Suni Lee reveals the one dish she will eat to toast glory in Paris alongside Simone Biles

Team USA gymnast Suni Lee had only one thing on her mind after competing in the balance beam final at the Olympics: a big, warm bowl of pho. 

The 21-year-old Hmong American was coming off her last performance in Paris on Monday, when she was asked about her plans to celebrate her three medals won this summer. 

Lee scored two bronzes, first in last Thursday’s individual all-around final before the uneven bars final on Sunday, as well as a gold in the team all-around event to take her Olympic medal to six. 

‘What will you eat as a celebration?’ Suni was asked before she replied: ‘I want, like, some pho. 

‘I’ve been craving pho or some type of soup anywhere I look here, but I just, I can’t find it, but yeah. That’s so Asian of me.’ 

The 21-year-old Hmong American is having a hard time finding the Vietnamese dish in Paris

Some viewers were in disbelief over Lee’s comments on social media, considering that Paris is home to one of the biggest Vietnamese expat communities in the world. France colonized Vietnam from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. 

‘I thought there are large Vietnamese communities in France. How come there is no pho there?’ a fan of the gymnast asked on X.

‘Last time I was in Paris, I had some of the best pho of my life. The Vietnamese restaurants there go OFF!’ someone else said. 

Another puzzled user wrote: ‘So many good Pho places in Paris what is she saying…’

‘There’s a ton of pretty good pho in the 9th [arrondissement]. Vibrant Vietnamese community in Paris,’ an individual shared. 

At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Lee went viral after she said that she was ‘gonna go eat pizza’ after being asked how she was going to celebrate winning gold in the women’s all-around final.

Lee and her USA teammate Simone Biles (L) won gold in the team all-around event on July 30 

According to TripAdvisor, there are 61 restaurants in Paris that serve pho. 

Previously, Lee revealed that for the better part of the last year, she struggled to get a pair of kidney diseases under control, leading her weight to fluctuate wildly. 

At one point, the 2020 Olympic champion believes she put on 45 pounds. In December, she was bedridden.

‘I just have to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t even supposed to be here,’ Lee said. ‘So that’s the thing that’s in the back of my head because I’m like, ”You know what? Like a couple months ago, we didn´t even think this was a possibility…”’