- Suni Lee has decided to leave college to pursue another trip to the Olympics in 2024.
- The reigning all-around champion loved her time at Auburn but wants to go to a Games without Covid restrictions.
Suni Lee is stepping away from collegiate gymnastics to focus her attention on chasing more Olympic medals.
The reigning individual all-around champion has spent two sensational seasons competing for the Auburn Tigers — and elevating the entire landscape of NCAA gymnastics in the process. But a year away from elite gymnastics helped her "realize that I'm not done with elite gymnastics and that I wanna go back and go for another Olympics," she told Insider.
"I never really thought that I could be able to do that," Lee said. "So I wanted to get it out in the open so that I could be able to focus on both openly."
The decision to leave her new home away from home in Eastern Alabama wasn't one the 19-year-old took lightly. She's "really loved having a true college experience" — going to football and basketball games, living in a dorm, and eating in the dining hall.
But the lure of another trip to the Olympics — particularly one unencumbered by intense pandemic restrictions — proved too great to ignore.
"That's a lot of it, I think," Lee said of the prospect of a "normal" Olympics in 2024. "I mean, last year it made it very interesting and a lot more memorable — I mean, it's the Olympics, it's gonna be memorable. But there was just so much that happened you just thought would never happen."
"It was during Covid [so] we couldn't really do anything, couldn't go anywhere, the food we had wasn't authentic food," she added. "And so I think it just kind of ruined my Tokyo experience."
Lee wants to try to replicate her performances on the mat, too. She's described experiencing imposter syndrome after taking home the individual all-around crown, a feeling almost certainly tied to teammate Simone Biles' withdrawal from the event at the last minute.
Though Lee has fought back against those feelings of self-doubt and acknowledged that "I'm a little mean to myself sometimes," as she told Insider, Lee still wants to show herself and the rest of the world that her success in 2021 wasn't a fluke.
"I wanna go to Paris, and I wanna prove to myself that I can be able to do it, because I didn't think I would be able to do it and I didn't think I was going to win the Olympics [last time]," she said. "So this time I just wanna go a little more prepared. Obviously I have to go through all of the steps to try and make the team again, so that's the hope, to just even make the team this year."
And she knows she'll have plenty of people in her corner — none of whom are more vocally supportive than the Auburn faithful. In fact, she says her "biggest takeaway" from her college experience was "the love and support that I felt from the Auburn family."
"They're seriously the nicest and most supportive people you'll ever meet, and it's just crazy how like all the meets last year were sold out," Lee said. "So the support is definitely there, and it doesn't matter how good or bad you're doing, because everyone just wants to enjoy it."
"The biggest Auburn saying is 'If you love Auburn, Auburn will love you,'" she added. "So Auburn will always be there for me, and that's truly special."