"Don't know how to live without gymnastics" - Suni Lee makes strong admission about her break from the sport

Olympic champion gymnast Suni Lee recently opened up about her break from gymnastics. The 22-year-old gymnast was compelled to take a break from the sport in 2023 due to a rare kidney disease.

In a recent conversation with Hoka TV, she opened up about her career, as well as her kidney disease, which almost ruined her gymnastics career. Lee discussed her break from the sport, saying [0:30 onwards]:

"Trying to learn how to live life without gymnastics has been the hardest thing. I've been doing gymnastics for 17 years, and I've never had a break from it."

When asked about her kidney disease, Lee replied [1:50 onwards]:

"I left during my sophomore year because I ended up getting sick with three kidney diseases at the time. Now I have two. It was such a hard moment because I didn't know what was going on. Not knowing if I was ever going to do gymnastics again."

Suni Lee had recently posed for the 2025 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. She was a part of the Swimsuit edition alongside celebrities like Lauren Chan, Ilona Maher, and Olivia Dunne.

Suni Lee opened up about one of the greatest triumphs of her life

Suni Lee at the US Olympic Gymnastics Trials 2024 [Image Source: Getty]

Suni Lee once talked about one of the greatest triumphs of her life. The 22-year-old gymnast was referring to the US Olympic trials of 2024, when she made her comeback after a career-threatening kidney disease.

In her conversation with Women's Health Magazine in March 2025, Lee mentioned:

"Olympic Trials was one of the most emotional and validating competitions of my life. I don't think most people realized the battle I had to go through to get there. I clawed my way back with everything I had. I just gave it my all—my personal best—which, to me, is always good enough."

The 22-year-old gymnast added:

"And to be named to the team after all of that was surreal. Like, How did I just do that? Is this really happening? That moment, knowing I was going to be representing my country on my second Olympic team, was one of the greatest moments of my life."

Suni Lee had participated for the second consecutive time at the summer Olympics held in Paris last year. She won a gold medal in the women's team all-around event and two individual bronze medals in the women's individual all-around event and the women's uneven bars event.

About the author

Animesh Pandey is a seasoned content writer at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience, having previously worked as an intern for Follow Your Sport before joining SK as a columnist in 2017. A graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing, he also worked at TFI Media Private Limited and contributed as an intern for the movie website Nettv4u.

He has extensively covered events from World Championships to the Olympics, providing insights and analyses that resonate with his audience. His belief in mastering the basics and delivering accurate, relevant, and ethical information through thorough research is reflected in his work.

He was notably invited to the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhavan after winning a MyGov quiz on Indian Sports, where he engaged with celebrated athletes such as Rahi Sarnobat, Hima Das, Jinson Johnson, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, and Subedar Neeraj Chopra, who also happens to be his favorite Olympian.

Despite being a field hockey enthusiast, Animesh's most cherished Olympic moments include Wayde Van Niekerk's unexpected world record in the 400 meters at Rio and Chopra's historic gold medal in Tokyo.

When not immersed in writing or watching the Olympics, Animesh indulges in his love for movies, embracing quality cinema regardless of the language.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar