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An 18-year-old from Saint Paul just kept the American all-around streak alive in Tokyo.
Sunisa “Suni” Lee won the women’s gymnastics individual all-around gold medal on July 29, 2021, at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre, finishing with a score of 57.433. The 18-year-old Hmong American took the title after defending champion Simone Biles withdrew from the competition to focus on her mental health, leaving Lee to carry Team USA’s hopes through a tense, four-rotation battle with Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Angelina Melnikova of the Russian Olympic Committee.
- Lee posted scores of 14.600 on vault, a competition-high 15.300 on uneven bars, 13.833 on balance beam, and 13.700 on floor for a winning total of 57.433.
- She became the fifth consecutive American woman to win Olympic all-around gold, following Carly Patterson (2004), Nastia Liukin (2008), Gabby Douglas (2012), and Simone Biles (2016).
- Lee is the first Hmong American Olympian and the first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist, an achievement that came after her father was paralyzed in a 2019 accident and she lost an aunt and uncle to COVID-19 in 2020.
The Weight of Biles’ Withdrawal
Lee arrived at the all-around final under a spotlight nobody expects an 18-year-old to handle. Biles’ decision to step aside from the competition instantly shifted the American medal expectations onto Lee, who suddenly had to deliver against a loaded field rather than simply chase a spot on the podium. It’s the kind of pressure swing that’s rattled far more experienced competitors, and it set up one of the more dramatic all-around finals of the Tokyo Games — not unlike the way other unforgettable moments from 2021 caught the sports world off guard.
Four Rotations, One Tight Finish
Lee opened on vault with a 14.600, a solid but unspectacular start, before turning to her best event. On the uneven bars, she went with the most difficult version of her routine and delivered, scoring a 15.300 — the highest mark posted on any apparatus by any gymnast in the entire final.
Lee’s 15.300 on the uneven bars was the single highest score recorded on any apparatus in the entire all-around final.
The balance beam nearly derailed her. Lee survived a significant wobble during a wolf turn and still salvaged a 13.833, enough to keep her ahead heading into the final rotation. She entered floor exercise leading Andrade 43.733 to 43.632 — a margin of just one-tenth of a point. Rather than risk a fall chasing difficulty, Lee strategically dropped her fourth tumbling pass to prioritize clean execution, scoring a 13.700. Andrade answered with a 13.666 on her own floor routine, finishing with silver at 57.298 — 0.135 behind Lee’s gold-medal total.
A Trailblazer for Hmong America
Beyond the scoreboard, Lee’s win carried history that had nothing to do with gymnastics. She became the first Hmong American to compete at the Olympics and the first to win a gold medal, a milestone for a community with roots tracing back to refugees who fled Laos after the Vietnam War. That achievement arrived on the back of real hardship at home — her father was paralyzed in a 2019 accident, and the family lost an aunt and uncle to COVID-19 in 2020 — making the gold in Tokyo as much a family story as an athletic one.
Lee’s win also extended a run that’s become one of the sport’s defining streaks: an American has now won the Olympic all-around in five straight Games, a run that started with Carly Patterson in Athens and ran through Nastia Liukin, Gabby Douglas, and Simone Biles before landing on Lee’s shoulders in Tokyo. She’ll be back on the podium later in these Games for the uneven bars final, the event where that 15.300 made it clear exactly which apparatus is hers.
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