Suni Lee makes major announcement on gymnastics future ahead of LA Olympics in 2028

Team USA icon Suni Lee isn’t ready to walk away from the bars just yet as she announced her return to gymnastics.

The six-time Olympic medalist shared that she is ‘back’ in a social media post on Tuesday around two years out from the Los Angeles Games. 

The 23-year-old, the 2020 all-round champion in Tokyo, shared a video of herself returning to the gym. 

‘I know what I’m capable of,’ Lee said in the clip. ‘I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Back in the gym … we’ll see.’

The announcement comes two years before the Olympics return to American soil in Los Angeles in 2028 and almost two years after Lee and her teammates claimed gold in the team event in Paris. 

She has been taking a break away from the sport since the Games in the French capital, exploring her fashion and modelling endeavors. 

But it appears that the two-time gold medalist could now be returning to competition in time to gear up towards an Olympic comeback. 

‘This is more than a comeback, stay tuned,’ Lee added. 

She became a household name in 2021 at the age of just 18 after she won the all-round gold and the bronze in the uneven bars. 

Following her first Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, Lee was on the highest of highs. She shot into the spotlight, competing on Dancing with the Stars before returning to her studies at Auburn University.

She also had her sights set on the next Olympics and her plans to seal her spot on Team USA. But that dream came to a screeching halt in early 2023.

The Minnesota native was forced to take a six-month hiatus from gymnastics after she was diagnosed with an unspecified, incurable kidney disease.

The Olympic champion first noticed swelling symptoms which eventually increased to the point she gained 40 pounds. Doctors first told her it was just allergies, but Lee knew that wasn’t the answer. She’d gained eight pounds overnight, waking up to find her face and body completely swollen.

Eventually, after multiple trips to different doctors, testing and an eventual kidney biopsy diagnosed her with kidney disease.

And the battle wasn’t purely physical. The Olympian also had to overcome mental challenges too. Lee faced a new reality that her body couldn’t deliver as it once did, leaving her frustrated and on the brink of quitting the sport.

Her diagnosis wasn’t just an illness, it was a threat that could end her gymnastics career for good.

But out of sheer will and determination, along with support from her team, including Dr. Marcia Faustin, who she brought as her date to the 2025 ESPYs to claim the Comeback Athlete of the Year award, Lee overcame a once seemingly insurmountable obstacle to land back on the Olympic podium.

‘The Paris Olympics were a really crazy ride,’ she previously told the Daily Mail. ‘It was so much fun though.

‘I was just so happy I was able to overcome everything and keep working towards that goal. I’m happy that I had the support that I had, I wouldn’t be here without them.

‘Looking back makes me really proud of myself. I think a lot of the time us athletes don’t give ourselves enough credit. So, it’s really nice to be here and look back and think, “Oh wow, I did that.’ Now we can move on to the next and focus on what’s in front of me.’

Lee is the latest member of the 2024 Olympic team to announce she is eyeing a shot at LA. Jade Carey is among the gold medalists who already have returned to competition. 

However, there has not yet been any hint of whether Simone Biles will be looking to join her former teammates.