'She reminds us that we are Americans — all of us' Suni Lee, 18, winner of the women's individual all-around gymnastics final, is the first Hmong American Olympian. Her historic performance has been an epochal moment for Hmongs in the US.
Lee, 18, winner of the women's individual all-around gymnastics final, is the first Hmong American Olympian.Like the story of the estimated 309,000 Hmongs who have settled in the US, her journey has been painful and turbulent."We were nomadic and we didn't have a place to belong and I feel like we fought adversity," said Koua Yang, athletic director at Como Park Senior High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, where many Hmong refugees settled in the 1970s.
In the '70s and '80s a large number of them settled and built a thriving community in Minnesota, where Lee's father would one day erect a makeshift balance beam in the backyard for her because of the family's modest means."It's a beautiful story that just illustrates the struggle of human beings and a people and now we get to celebrate," Yang said. Lee's historic performance Thursday was an epochal moment for Hmongs in America.
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