Heartbreaking:Suni Lee American Gymnastics Just passed away at the Aged of 21…see…more…

NANCY ARMOUR

How Suni Lee’s health journey changed her gymnastics mindset: ‘This is what I want’

Portrait of Nancy ArmourNancy Armour

USA TODAY

Editor’s note: Simone Biles won Olympic gold in the all-around, while Suni Lee took home bronze.

MINNEAPOLIS — This week’s U.S. gymnastics trials have all the makings of one of those schmaltzy pieces that are a staple of NBC’s Olympic coverage: Reigning Olympic champion gets to make a victory lap in her hometown, capped by a trip to a second Summer Games.

If only it were that simple for Suni Lee.

Lee is in good shape to make the five-person U.S. team for the Paris Olympics. She was fourth at the national championships in early June and has upgraded her routines on uneven bars and floor since then. But a health crisis 15 months ago has upended her life, putting her gymnastics career in doubt and forcing the 21-year-old to confront realities and self-doubts that would challenge people twice her age.

Add to all that the anxiety of competing in front of the hometown crowd, wanting to put on a good show for all the people who have stopped her these last few months to tell her how proud of her they are and how they can’t wait for her to compete.

Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports’ WhatsApp Channel

Get the Nancy Armour newsletter in your inbox.

Get the latest story from Nancy Armour right in your inbox.

Delivery: Varies

Your Email

“Whenever I’m talking to my coaches, I get really sad because I’m never going to be the same. I’m not the same Suni, I’m not the same athlete,” Lee said earlier this year. “And they’re like, ‘Good. You don’t want to be. You’re doing everything and more right now, and you should be proud of the way that you’ve been able to come back from everything because you never thought that you would be in this position.’ And I was like, ‘You’re so right!’”

“But it’s just hard mentally because I was in a really good spot last Olympics getting ready,” she said. “So now it’s just kind of hard switching that mental aspect of it.”

USA Gymnastics