Amid struggles with Kidney Disease, Suni Lee reveals Simone Biles' crucial advice that led her to approach Paris Olympics with different zeal

Olympic champion gymnast Sunisa 'Suni' Lee talked about a crucial advice from Simone Biles that changed her outlook towards last year's Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old gymnast had made a strong comeback after a rare kidney disease which nearly threatened her entire career.

In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, Lee explained how Biles helped her regain her confidence ahead of the individual all-around event. According to Lee, Biles mentioned that Lee needed to realize who she really is as an athlete. In her words,

"Simone was like, ‘You need to realise who you are! You won this gold medal [the Tokyo all-around title] because you are an amazing athlete.’ She’s like, ‘You need to stand on that and believe in that and go out there and compete and act like it,’. That was probably one of the best pieces of advice that I’ve ever gotten.”

Suni Lee was forced to take break from gymnastics for the entirety of the 2023 season due to a rare kidney disease. The gymnast was compelled to end her collegiate career due to the disease, that almost threatened to cut short her gymnastics career.

However, Lee overcame the problem to register a strong comeback at the Paris Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the women's team-all around, and two bronze medals in the women's individual all-around and the women's uneven bars events respectively.

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When Suni Lee expressed her joy about her victory at the Paris Olympics

Suni Lee recounts her victory at the Paris Olympics [Image Source : Getty]

Suni Lee recounted her victory at the Paris Olympics last year, where she added three Olympic medals to her collection. The 22-year-old gymnast was a part of the US women's all-around team, which went on to win the gold medal with a comfortable score of 171.296.

In her interview with Glamour magazine conducted in October 2024, Lee expressed her pride in making it to the Olympics, as she mentioned,

"That wasn’t how I wanted to end my Olympics in Paris, and I was a little disappointed, but at the end of the day, I was super proud of myself because I made it to the Olympics,” she said. “I didn’t even think that I was going to be here.I’m at such a better place in my life, not even just physically but mentally, to where I can accept everything that’s happened. Not many people get to come here twice and compete with the best of the best."

Suni Lee later modeled for the Swimsuit edition of the Sports Illustrated magazine in 2025, alongside the likes of celebrities like Jordan Chiles, Ilona Maher, Olivia Dunne etc. The 22-year-old gymnast was also awarded with the ESPY award for Best Comeback Athlete.