Sunisa "Suni" Lee (born Sunisa Phabsomphou) is an American artistic gymnast born on March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She was raised by her mother, Yeev Thoj, and her mother’s partner, John Lee, who were both Hmong immigrants from Laos. Suni is most known for being the first Hmong American Olympic gymnast and the first woman of Asian descent to win the Olympic all-around title in women’s gymnastics. At the age of 6, Suni’s father built her a wooden balance beam and enrolled her in gymnastics classes at Midwest Gymnastics Center in Little Canada, Minnesota. She started training under her coach, Punnarith Koy, who trained her until she was 11, where she was able to win an all-around competition at a state meet for only her second-ever competition, at age 7. At age 11, she qualified for the elite program in gymnastics, allowing her to represent the United States. Coached by Jess Graba, Suni was able to earn a spot on the U.S. Junior National Team at 14, allowing her to place third in the junior women’s all-around and gold in the uneven bars in the United States Gymnastics Championships in 2018. Throughout 2018 to 2020, Suni won the all-around title and took home the gold with the U.S. team in the team final at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy and made the national team for the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart alongside Biles, Kara Eaker, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum. At the Olympic team trials for 2020 Toyko Summer Olympics, Suni placed second in the all-around competition, earning her a spot on Team USA. Suni was able to qualify for the uneven bars and balance beam on the team finals and replaced Simone Biles on the floor exercise. She won the women's individual all-around gold, making her the sixth U.S. woman to claim the Olympic all-around title. After the Olympics, Suni registered for classes at Auburn University in August 2021 and left elite gymnastics to compete in the NCAA. At the 2022 NCAA Championships, Lee finished first on balance beam and second in the all-around. However, her time competing in the NCAA was cut short during her sophomore year as she was diagnosed with an unspecified rare kidney disease. In early August 2023, she made her comeback to elite gymnastics at the 2023 U.S. Classic, where she qualified for the U.S. Championships, earning bronze on the beam. Suni was selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Paris Olympics alongside Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera. During the Olympic team final, Lee contributed scores on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise towards the team's first-place finish, earning the U.S. national team their fourth overall Olympic team gold medal. She also earned bronze on the all-around final and the uneven bars.