{"id":31005,"date":"2021-07-30T14:38:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T04:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=198113"},"modified":"2021-07-30T07:16:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T07:16:43","slug":"sunisa-lee-tokyo-2020","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/sunisa-lee-tokyo-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"From Her Dad’s Hand Built Balance Beam To Olympic Victory: Sunisa Lee\u2019s Heartwarming Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sunisa
Sunisa Lee of Team United States reacts after competing on uneven bars during the Women’s All-Around Final on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on July 29, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It doesn’t feel like real life,” American gymnast Sunisa Lee told reporters. Overnight the athlete became the fifth American woman straight to win an Olympic gold medal at the all-round Gymnastics competition. You would have already read of the incredible weightlifter who won the Philippines’ first ever gold meda<\/a>l – she was stuck in a foreign country as the globe grappled with the pandemic and was forced to train using bottles of water. For Lee, her road to victory was also marred by exceptional circumstances.<\/p>\n

After the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were postponed in 2020, Lee returned to training in June of last year. One week into training she broke her foot and still to this day she experiences pain. She grappled with depression. She lost an aunt and an uncle to COVID-19. Her city saw the full force of George Floyd’s murder as protests flooded her city’s streets. All of this was after her father fell from a ladder in 2019 which left him paralysed from the chest down.<\/p>\n

\"Sunisa
Credit: Jamie Squire\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With her family and community watching on from Minnesota, Lee put on an impressive performance to score a 15.300 on the uneven bars, 14.600 on vault, 13.833 on beam and 13.700 on floor. She became the first Hmong American (an ethnic group largely made up of South East Asian and Chinese People who fought alongside the US in the Vietnam war) to win gold at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\"Sunisa
Credit: Stephen Maturen\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lee’s father, John Lee, spoke to\u00a0Today<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on the historic win and explained he built his daughter a balance beam when she was young (it still stands today). It was reportedly made from a spare mattress and a piece of ply wood.<\/p>\n

“I almost cried and I never cry,” Mr. Lee said. “I’m so happy she won.”<\/p>\n

“I said, \u2018Okay, we have something special,'” he recalled of his daughter at a young age. “So, I knew she was going to go pretty far, but I didn’t expect the gold. I’m so glad I built that beam for her.”<\/p>\n

Lee’s family reaction was filmed as she won gold. I dare you try not to cry.<\/p>\n

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Golden reaction for a golden moment! \ud83e\udd47
@sunisalee_<\/a>'s family witnessing her historic win!#TokyoOlympics<\/a> | #OlympicHERstory<\/a> | @OnHerTurf<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WcrZv3llaB<\/a><\/p>\n

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n