Suni Lee Makes Headlines as the First Asian American Woman to Win Gold in the Olympics

Olympic gymnast 18-year-old Suni Lee made history at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as the first Hmong American to compete in the Olympics and as the first Asian American woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics.

After the star of the US gymnastics team, Simone Biles, withdrew from the competition to focus on her mental health, US supporters turned to Lee to carry their team to victory — and Lee did not disappoint. She just narrowly defeated Rebeca Andrade by 0.135 points, earning 57.433 points and the US’s fifth gold medal in the event.

“I was coming in to take a silver spot, but I feel like I just kind of went out there and did it for myself,” Lee told NBC. “I didn’t really focus on the scoreboard. Wasn’t focusing on any of that, because it just wasn’t going to be a good competition if I did so, yeah, it’s crazy.”

Lee’s rise to success was backed by her strong relationship with her father, John Lee. In an interview with “TODAY”, John said he couldn’t afford a real balance beam so he built her one in their backyard so she could practice at home. Lee’s father has always been her number one supporter, traveling with her to meets so she could continue competing. John was unfortunately unable to physically attend the Olympics to watch Lee due to an accident in 2019 that partially paralyzed him and put him in a wheelchair, but he was able to view Lee’s victory live from home.

“This has been our dream forever,” Lee told NBC on Thursday. “I wish he was here. … It’s sad that he can’t be here, but this is our dream and this our medal.”

Lee’s gold medal also represents a step forward for the Hmong and Asian American communities. The Hmong people are a relatively small ethnic group that live primarily in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, with around 330,000 Hmong people living in the US today. Lee’s victory has moved the US Hmong community in particular, for which Lee has become a source of pride for.

“…It means so much more to the Hmong community,” Sheng Tao, the first Hmong American woman to be elected to a city council in California, told NBC. “It’s just not like, ‘Yes, Sunisa won gold,’ but it’s symbolic.”

By gaining the significant title of the first Asian American woman to achieve a gold medal in the Olympics, Lee inspires young and upcoming female Asian athletes to work toward similar outcomes. Lee’s accomplishments could also drive the general population of Asian American women to push boundaries and be universally recognized for their feats, whatever those may be.

“The fact that Suni stood up when no one else could is very inspirational to me because it shows that Asian Americans are able to step up when no one else can,” 16-year old Kristin Lin stated to NBC.

10-year-old Aki Tanda was also touched by Lee’s win.

“It motivated me before, but it motivates me more now because she showed how Asian Americans can really do the sport,” she told NBC.