‘This medal goes deeper than gymnastics’: Suni Lee reflects on her Olympic journey with an emotional post about mental health and perseverance

The Summer Olympics in Paris, France, have allowed Suni Lee to shine. She’s leaving with multiple medals, including a gold for the Women’s Artistic Team All-Around, which she achieved with her Team USA teammates.

Lee recently took to Instagram to post several pictures and share a glimpse into her Olympic experience. These included photos of her holding the American flag, posing with her teammates, and holding up her gold medal, but it was the caption that really got fans’ attention. “From being told that i would never be able to do gymnastics again to winning my 5th olympic medal!!” she wrote. 

“This medal goes deeper than gymnastics. i can’t even begin to express how much my health has taken away from me & the strength it has taught me, so to be here is the greatest achievement of all,” she added. Lee continued to thank her fans for their support and expressed her gratitude for being able to compete in the Games. 

Fans and celebrities react to Suni Lee’s Instagram post with messages of support 

The comments on her post have been overwhelmingly positive as fans and celebrities share their opinions on Suni Lee’s performance at the Olympics. “The world beams with pride,” a comment reads. “Truly deserving. You were beyond!!” another shared. Other reactions include, “Congratulations I’ve been following you since last Olympic so so proud of you Suni,” and “your comeback has been the most admirable series of events I’ve ever seen.”

Even former First Lady Michelle Obama reacted to Lee’s post. “Congrats, Suni! So proud of you!” she wrote.  Olympic ski racer Lindsey Vonn also shared her thoughts, writing, “So glad you believed in yourself!!! You got knocked down, and you built yourself back up! You deserve this and so much more!! Made Minnesota and the world so proud!!”

Lee was previously diagnosed with two kidney diseases and still managed to get into a place where she was mentally and physically strong enough to qualify for the Olympics. She is a force to be reckoned with, and no one can say otherwise! Getting to this point has not been easy, as she told TODAY in July, “There were so many times where I thought about quitting and just giving up because I was so sick, and it was just so hard to stay motivated, watching everybody get better, and I’m just like I can’t even get back into the gym and constantly doubting myself.” 

Lee credits her support system for helping her during this unimaginably hard time despite not knowing if she would be able to compete. She described the build-up to the Olympics and the challenges she had to overcome as “such a hard, incredible journey.” And now, she’s done it and made herself (and everyone else) proud!