The aftermath of an Olympics triumph often brings sudden change and challenges. But the reigning all-around champion is back for more, competing for a spot in Paris.
Suni Lee would rather not be wolfing down her sandwich in this hotel room in midtown Manhattan, but it’s 3 p.m. and this is her first meal of the day, 17 hours removed from her fourth competition since a pair of kidney conditions left her worried she would never live a normal life.
“You expect it to be this huge life-changing moment,” says Ryan Crouser, who won gold in shot put in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo five years later. “And it is. But you spent years and years and years putting that moment on this pedestal. It’s especially difficult because everyone expects you to be like, up here.” He raises his right hand above his head.
“I’d like to not have that be my entire personality,” she says. “I’ve found the most genuine friendships are the ones that don’t necessarily care.” Lee planned for a normal college life after Tokyo but instead, she became an overnight star. / Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated “We had spent her lifetime divorcing from the result to the point where it was kind of weird to deal with the result,” Graba says.
Lee felt that everyone expected her to produce a perfect 10 in every college event. When she did, she had simply done what she was supposed to do. When she didn’t, she had failed. “Everybody just thinks since you’re the gold medalist, you never make mistakes,” says Jess Graba. Despite her Tokyo all-around gold, Lee is focused on bars and beam this time around. / Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images
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