On Sunday morning, Team USA Women’s Gymnastics took to the floor to qualify for the All-Around competition, and its two biggest stars, Simone Biles and Suni Lee, returned to the Games healthy after years of pain.
Biles returned to the Olympics after a disappointing 2020 Games where she withdrew after suffering through the “Twisties,” a disorienting and debilitating condition that can seriously hamper gymnasts in particular. It’s essentially when the mind and body are disconnected, leading gymnasts to experience what USA Today called a loss of “their sense of space and air awareness.”
Although she returned to the 2020 Games and won a silver medal in team and a bronze medal in balance beam, the condition took its toll physically and mentally. She also experienced additional torture from ridiculous online sentiments of hate from ignorants who dared to question her toughness and patriotism after she withdrew.
It was a difficult time in Biles’ life, one completely opposite from the success she experienced at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where she won four gold and one bronze.
But the champion bounced back in 2023, winning four golds and one silver at the World Championships, putting the world on notice that she was going to Paris with nothing but gold on her mind.
Lee had a more successful 2020 Games, winning gold in the All-Around, silver in team and bronze in the uneven bars. After the Tokyo Games, she enrolled at Auburn and had a great 2022, winning an SEC title on bars, an NCAA title on beam and was named NCAA All-American First Team (All-Around, beam, floor).
But 2023 was a year of pain for the young star.
She suffered through two rare forms of kidney disease that forced her to withdraw from competition at Auburn and nearly ended her gymnastics career. Her body swelled up, her eyes were almost shut and she gained over 40 pounds.
“I couldn’t fit into any of my clothes,” Lee told USA TODAY in November of 2023. “My eyes were swollen shut. It was just so scary.”
Lee never gave up her dreams of Paris though, and battled through the health scare to qualify for the 2024 Games.
Yesterday, both took to the floor and regained their top spots on the team.
Biles finished in the overall top position for Team USA and won the first spot for the All-Around competition roster.
Lee battled with Jordan Chiles for the second and final spot, edging her out in bars for the final spot in All-Around, enabling her to defend her 2020 Olympic gold medal.
“We didn’t even think I’d be here. Everything has been hitting me like a freaking roller coaster,” said Lee of her return to the Olympics. “I haven’t stopped crying since, and I’m so happy because there were many times I thought about quitting and walking away from this sport because I didn’t think I’d ever get to this point.”
On Sunday, Simone Biles and Sunni Lee reminded the world what they could do now that they’re healthy again and let everyone that they’re back for gold.
