Her Olympic Dream on Hold, Teen Gymnast Faces Other Trials

Around the same time, one of Lee’s aunts and the aunt’s husband, died within 13 days of each other. Then, only two weeks after returning to training full-time, Lee twisted her left ankle on a fall from the uneven bars, relegating her to nearly the same monotonous routine she had under quarantine — mostly strength and conditioning training — until her ankle heals.

Even with all the tumult, Lee likely will reset the alarm on her phone for next year. When it rings to signal the Olympic trials she wants to be ready in both body and spirit.

This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

The days right before I went back to the gym were supposed to be happy ones, but the protests in Minneapolis were really crazy for everyone here. I didn’t go to the protests, but I understand where the anger is coming from and why people are trying to push for change. There weren’t any protests in our neighborhood, but one day we did have people throwing things in our yard. It was hard for me to even think about going back to the gym while all of these things were going on.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/sports/olympics/sunisa-lee-gymnastics-olympics.html