Bold. Graceful. Poised. Successful. Minnesota elite gymnast Sunisa Lee's moves are fueled by passion and drive that keep viewers hooked on her performances. Training locally and only 16 years old, she is well on her way to becoming the first Hmong-American gymnast to compete in the Olympics, setting her sights on the 2020 Summer Games.
Lee began her gymnastics career at the age of 6 but spoke passionately about how she started out by watching YouTube videos at home before trying out at Midwest Gymnastics in Little Canada with a friend. Lee recalls how her parents and family were always supportive of her dream of being a gymnast, even if they did not understand at first.
"When I was younger, I was [practicing] flipping, and I asked my dad to make me [a] beam. So he took two wooden planks and made a beam," said Lee, of St. Paul. "I thought it was the coolest thing ever! I did back flips on it all the time. That's when I first started learning."
Jess Graba is Lee's head coach and the owner of Midwest Gymnastics, where she trains. He said he immediately noticed a spark in her when she was 6 and first began at the gym. Even though she started three years later than most of her peers, she quickly caught up.
Lee said gymnastics became serious for her when she was 9 and participated in her first elite competition. She said that is when gymnastics became complicated, but she was always confident in her skills.
"Usually when I get there, I eat breakfast. Then I have a whole playlist I listen to, and it just pumps me up," Lee said. "And then it usually ends up in a dance party and a concert."
Lee's first national competition was the 2015 Women's Junior Olympics. Since then she has participated in various national competitions, most notably the 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships. She has placed first in at least one event in all her international meets since 2017.
Although Lee is an elite athlete on the road to competing in the Olympics, she still tries to balance that with being a normal teenager. It's not always easy. She attends South St. Paul Secondary, which she says is supportive of her career and helps her succeed academically. However, because of her fame, Lee sometimes struggles to connect with classmates.
