After Suni Lee received gold within the ladies’s gymnastics particular person all-around closing on the Tokyo Olympics, the Paris Video games felt like a pure subsequent step—a shoo-in, even—till a sudden bout of painful and distressing signs turned her world upside-down (and never within the adrenaline-fueled, mat-flip form of manner).
Final yr, the now 21-year-old gymnast was recognized with two uncommon kidney illnesses, which sidelined her coaching and rocked her bodily and psychological well being for months. Since then, Lee has shared snippets of her well being journey, and on June 30, she certified for the Paris Video games—the place she’s already crushing her routines (in a stunning leotard and smooth press-on nails, naturally). On July 28, Lee certified for the all-around closing set for August 1—the place she’ll face off towards Simone Biles in a history-making occasion. And on July 30, Crew USA dominated, taking residence the gold within the ladies’s group closing.
At her lowest level, although, Lee feared that competing in gymnastics ever once more—not to mention incomes a medal at one other Olympics—can be inconceivable, she informed SELF for an October cowl story final yr. “We didn’t know what was potential. We didn’t know what was flawed with me,” she mentioned. Under, we dive into every little thing Lee has shared about her kidney illness, from the jarring warning indicators to how she’s feeling at present.
Lee’s first signs appeared seemingly in a single day.
In February 2023, Lee awoke with swollen ankles and shortly blamed her intense coaching routine, she beforehand informed SELF in a canopy story. She didn’t assume a lot of it till the next morning, when her face, palms, and legs—basically her complete physique—adopted swimsuit. “I simply stored getting extra swollen…and I believe I gained, like, 40 kilos,” she recalled. The swelling instantly affected her coaching. “I stored peeling off the bar. I couldn’t maintain on,” she mentioned. “My fingers have been so swollen.”
At first, docs thought Lee was experiencing an allergic response, however as her signs progressed over two weeks, Lee knew that was unlikely. In March 2023, she needed to sit out of an NCAA meet—at this level she was competing as a pupil with Auburn College’s gymnastics group—and all of the whereas she and her medical suppliers have been at a loss for what was flawed. “It affected my complete physique and the way I regarded and the way I used to be feeling,” she mentioned.
Along with excessive swelling (she had typically even woken up together with her eyes swollen shut), Lee additionally skilled sizzling flashes, chilly spells, complications, and cramping. On the April Crew USA Media Summit, she shared that she lived with fixed ache, nausea, and lightheadedness. “I couldn’t bend my legs the slightest. I couldn’t squeeze my fingers,” she mentioned.
This all took a psychological toll too. That point of her life was “very, very depressing,” Lee candidly shared on the summit. “I couldn’t even take a look at myself within the mirror,” she informed Sports activities Illustrated in June. “I used to be simply rotting in my mattress. I couldn’t discuss to anyone. I didn’t depart the home.”
She was finally recognized with two uncommon kidney circumstances.
Lee had undergone a number of medical checks to no avail when USA Gymnastics group doctor Marcia Faustin requested if her docs had accomplished a routine urine check. Lee hadn’t, and admitted that she had been having issue peeing for 2 weeks—a pink flag that pointed to kidney issues (which runs in her household, one thing that Lee hadn’t identified earlier on, The New York Occasions stories). Her docs ran extra labs, and he or she was lastly referred to a specialist who really helpful a biopsy of her kidney tissue, which might decide if it had indicators of injury or illness.