WATCH: 2x Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee drops ecstatic reaction to receiving admiration from Dawn Staley

Sunisa Lee shared happiness and gratitude to Dawn Staley after the latter shared appreciation for her. Lee helped Team U.S. clinch a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and Dawn Staley was all praise for the gymnast.

Sunisa Lee was diagnosed with an incurable kidney disease in 2023. It ended her collegiate career at Auburn. University of South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley took note of her indomitable spirit on X and wrote :

Suni went to work! Come on and medal her!

Seeing that the coach of Gamecocks had posted about her, Sunisa Lee wrote:

OMGGGG I'm fangirling rn!!!

In response, Dawn Staley showered praise for Lee:

That’s me with you! Super proud of you! Love that medal smile!! Keep me great, SUNI!!!

In a video shared on the Instagram handle of Team USA, Sunisa Lee made a video sharing how she felt when Staley wrote about her:

"Hey Dawn I think you are the coolest person in the world. Like she's just so amazing and I was speechless when I saw you tweeted at me."

On August 1, Sunisa Lee won the bronze medal in gymnastics individual all around at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Two days earlier, she had been part of the Team USA's run to the gold, led by Simone Biles.

In the jam-packed room of reporters, Lee laid bare her motivation after winning bronze. She said that she wanted to prove herself against all odds:

"It has taken so much. I was telling everyone today that I really didn't think that I could get on the podium. It is crazy that I'm even here."

Dawn Staley was a part of the presidential delegation for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Dawn Staley blocks a pro-Caitlin Clark handle

Staley elicited a lot of discussion since she said that Angel Reese was a favorite for WNBA ROTY. This week, a pro Caitlin Clark handle shared the video of the India Fever rookie dropping 40 points against the Gamecocks when she played for the Hawkeyes.

Staley blocked the account and the user posted the screenshot to his followers. It elicited varied reactions from the fans, some even suggesting that Staley was jealous of the WNBA star.

This comes at a time when many are questioning the omission of Caitlin Clark from the Paris Olympics. Team USA had a comfortable 102-76 win over Japan but only 13,040 people attended the game.

Many suggested that the presence of the 'crowd puller' Clark would have made the difference. As a member of the selection committee, Staley said that Clark didn't play well in the WNBA initially but she would have been in 'high consideration' based on her current performance.