This summer, all eyes are on Sunisa "Suni" Lee. The gold medal winner just qualified for her second Olympics alongside teammates Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera. Plus, she and Simone make Team USA the first-ever (!) squad to boast two previous all-around champions, per NBC Sports.
After making the team, Suni became emotional while addressing the crowd at the Olympic Trials, per USA Today.
"I was just reminded of my goals every day and constantly surrounded by people who never let me give up," she said. "I can't wait to be in Paris."
But the past few years haven't been easy for 21-year-old Suni. After winning the all-around, Suni began competing for Auburn University, but was sidelined by two incurable kidney conditions.
"A year ago, I didn't even think this was possible," she told the crowd. Now, she's in remission and is stronger than ever.
Of course, her parents, John Lee and Yeev Thoj, have been in her corner every step of the way. Here's what you need to know about Suni's supportive fam:
Suni is one of six kids.
The Lee household has six kids total. John already had two kids, Jonah and Shyenne, when he met Yeev and 2-year-old Suni. Then, John and Yeev had Evionn, Lucky, and Noah together.
Suni's siblings are super-supportive of their sister. Here they are watching her during the 2024 Olympic Trials:
Suni's parents are both from Laos.
John and Yeev were young when their families fled Laos during the Vietnam War and arrived in the United States as refugees, according to NPR. They settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, in a large community of other Hmong Americans who came to the U.S. with similar stories. Yeev is a healthcare worker, per Newsweek.
John isn't Suni's biological father, but the two are very close and she considers him her dad, according to NBC. Her birth name was Sunisa Phabsomphou, she began using the surname Lee as a teenager.
Yeev says it was completely Suni's decision to change her last name to Lee, since she and John were never legally married. "She wanted his last name," Yeev told ESPN.
The entire community couldn't be prouder of Suni's success. Hmong activist Tou Ger Xiong told the Pioneer Press in 2021 that "she’s the realization of the dream our ancestors had."
Two years ago, an accident left John paralyzed.
In 2019, John was left paralyzed from the chest down after he fell off a ladder while helping a neighbor trim a tree, two days before Suni was supposed to compete at the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, per NBC News. Suni wanted to skip the competition, but her dad insisted she compete.
He FaceTimed Suni from his bed in the ICU and told her to just do her best, since she'd always be number one in his eyes. At the competition Suni won gold on the uneven bars and finished second in the all-around, behind only Simone Biles, per ESPN.
John is still recovering and currently uses a wheelchair, but he hopes to walk again one day. In January 2021, he was one of 18 patients to take part in a clinical trial where they received a spinal stimulator, which sends electricity directly into the spinal cord to relieve pain.
With help from an exoskeleton, John could stand upright to practice the motion of walking, according to KARE 11.
"Hopefully in the future, if I have upper-body strength, with the use of an exoskeleton, I can do a little walking," John told ESPN in 2021. "That's my goal."
John helped Suni start her gymnastics training at home when she was little.
If it seems like gymnastics is in Suni's DNA, it's because her dad pushed her to start early. John has been Suni's biggest supporter since day one.
When she was seven, John transformed an old, lumpy mattress into a homemade balance beam in their backyard, per Elle. He also taught Suni how to do flips on a bed.
"Before my injury, I was active and athletic and I fixed everything around the house," John said. "I can't do any of that now, and it's hard. But when I get so angry at myself, I look at Sunisa and think about what she has had to go through to get to where she's at, and she inspires me," he told ESPN.
"[He tells me] to go out there and do my best and to just do what I do," Suni told People.
Although her parents couldn't be in Tokyo, they cheered her on from home.
Suni's parents were not allowed to travel to the Games, but they supported her from home, just like they've always done.
"When Suni started competing as an elite, I traveled with her almost everywhere. I always talked to her before the competition, and sometimes I'd be hard on her and she'd get mad. When Suni's mad, she focuses a little better," John said, per ESPN. "Now she's used to me telling her to go out there and have fun."
"It's pretty amazing that she actually made it this far," her mom said, per TODAY. "I'm just super proud that she actually made it."
When she won gold in 2021, Suni thanked her parents, specifically shouting out her dad. "I was thinking of my dad the whole time,” she said per NBC, “And to do it for him because I knew that he would be so proud.”
Can't wait to see John and Yeev in the crowd in Paris!
Charlotte Walsh (she/her) is an associate news editor with Women's Health, where she covers the intersection of wellness and entertainment. Previously, she worked as a writer at The Messenger, E! News, and Netflix. In her free time, she enjoys reality television, tennis and films starring Nicole Kidman.
