Since chronic kidney disease derailed her career last year, Sunisa Lee has battled back into the elite of women’s gymnastics, winning silver on the balance beam and placing fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships in late May.
It was quite a feat considering she was in a hospital bed less than a year ago after being diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
But Lee is aiming for more in this weekend’s U.S. Olympic trials in Minneapolis. The all-around gold medalist on the 2020 Olympic team that won a team silver in Tokyo wants another shot at greatness, and appears to be on her way.
Simone Biles, the sport’s superstar since she won four gold medals at the 2016 Games, finished first among the 15 competitors at Target Center on Friday with 58.900 total points, capping her night with the best score on any event, a 15.975 on the vault.
Lee, 21, had the night’s best score on the balance beam (14.400) and was third in the uneven bars (14.400) to finish third with 56.025. Jordan Chiles, another 2020 Olympic teammate, edged past Lee in her last event, scoring 14.325 for a total score of 56.400.
Lee nearly fell during her beam routine but kept her balance, on one leg, and finished the routine by sticking the dismount and recorded the best beam score of the night.
Biles was displeased with her beam routine — her discontent clear to lip-readers after her dismount — but still finished with the fourth-best score, 13.650. She rebounded in the second half with the best scores on vault and floor exercise (14.850).
The all-around winner in the two-day event will automatically qualify for the Paris Games, which are set to begin July 26. The other four members will be chosen by a selection committee after Sunday’s competition. Four alternates will be chosen, as well, two of whom will travel to Paris.
Skye Blakely was expected to be in that mix after placing second in the all-around at the U.S. Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, but she suffered an Achilles’ injury during practice on Wednesday and had to withdraw from the trials.
Lee won bronze in the uneven bars as the U.S. took the team silver medal despite missing Biles — who pulled out after winning bronze on the beam because of stress — for most of the competition.
Since then, Biles has been nearly unbeatable, claiming the all-around championship in the 2023 World and U.S. championships and the 2024 U.S. Championship. Barring injury, she will be on the Olympic team.
Lee competed in four 2024 U.S. events before the trials, placing three times in the beam (two firsts and a second). At the U.S. Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, in May, Lee won silver in the beam and placed fourth in the all-around.
Briefly
Kayla DiCello, who finished third in the all-around at the U.S. Championship, was injured on her vault dismount — the first pass on an event Friday — and missed the rest of the competition. … Shelise Jones competed in only one event after being injured in warmups.
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