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American gymnast Sunisa Lee wins Olympic gold in women’s all-around

AP photo by Ashley Landis / U.S gymnast Sunisa Lee finishes her performance on the uneven bars during the women's all-around final Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics. She won the event, becoming the fifth straight American woman to earn gold in the all-around event.
AP photo by Ashley Landis / U.S gymnast Sunisa Lee finishes her performance on the uneven bars during the women's all-around final Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics. She won the event, becoming the fifth straight American woman to earn gold in the all-around event. AP photo by Ashley Landis / U.S gymnast Sunisa Lee finishes her performance on the uneven bars during the women's all-around final Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics. She won the event, becoming the fifth straight American woman to earn gold in the all-around event.

By WILL GRAVES / The Associated Press 5 min read

TOKYO – Sunisa Lee wanted to quit during quarantine.

It all had become too much. The lingering pain from a broken foot. The deaths of two family members from COVID-19. Her father’s slow recovery from an accident that left him paralyzed.

The urge eventually passed. It always does for her. Still, less than two months ago, the 18-year-old gymnast hobbled around the podium at the U.S. championships, getting by on grit more than anything else.

Tokyo seemed far away. The top of the Olympic podium? Even farther.

Then suddenly, there she was Thursday night as a tinny version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” echoed across Ariake Gymnastics Centre. A gold medal around her neck. A watch party back home among the Hmong-American community in her native Minnesota raging. A victory she never envisioned not yet sinking in.