The Tokyo Olympics in 2021 made gymnast Suni Lee a household name, and many wondered whether she could repeat her accomplishments in Paris in 2024—especially after a diagnosis with an undisclosed kidney disease that sent her to her hometown Mayo Clinic for treatment in 2023.
However, she returned to form—winning gold in the team competition, bronze in the all-around, and bronze in the uneven bars. On the heels of a year to remember, the 22-year-old Lee posed for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue for the first time.
"My earliest memories of gymnastics—I used to watch gymnastics videos all the time," Lee told SI. "I was constantly flipping around the bed, breaking things, flipping around the house. My mom got sick of it, she decided to put me in gymnastics, and it's just stuck ever since."
Since the Olympics, Lee has gravitated toward the fashion world, participating heavily in New York Fashion Week and appearing at the Met Gala.
"Moving to New York has been a big adjustment, but also getting into the fashion world has been so surreal," Lee said. "But also this is the first time I've really taken a break from gymnastics. Diving into something like that has been really, really different, but also one of the best experiences of my life."
The 2025 SI Swimsuit issue is out now on newsstands everywhere.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Suni Lee Debuts for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit After Another Triumphant Olympics.
