How are Sunisa Lee's prospects for competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics despite health issues?

Sunisa Lee has been a revelation to the gymnastics community since her commanding performance at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. But even before the last Olympics, Sunisa caught the eye of observers by performing extremely well at the 2019 World Championships.

Recently, Sunisa announced that she will be ending her collegiate gymnastics career earlier than expected due to non-gymnastics health-related kidney issues.

Previously, back in 2022, the American gymnast announced that this would be her final season representing Auburn. After the conclusion of the current season, she was expected to return to elite gymnastics in a bid to qualify for the Paris Olympics and win medals at the event.

However, the most shocking news awaited everyone, as Sunisa Lee announced her decision to end her collegiate gymnastics career early. She also revealed that she stopped competing for the Auburn Tigers after February.

So, will Suni Lee compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics despite health issues?

It is not yet known whether she will compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics despite health issues. But in the announcement she made on April 3, 2023, her words were filled with confidence. The Olympic gold medallist wrote:

"I will not stop pursuing my dreams for a bid to Paris in 2024. In fact, this experience has sharpened my vision for the future."

Sunisa has to recover quickly to compete and qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. At present, she hasn't been cleared by the medical team to train or compete. But the American gymnast is determined not to stop pursuing her dreams of competing in Paris 2024.

We can definitely expect a fully recovered Sunisa Lee to represent the United States of America at the 2024 Paris Olympics and win a few gold medals if she recovers soon.

---

How well did Sunisa Lee fare at her debut Olympic games?

Sunisa Lee in action

Sunisa Lee had one of the best Olympic debuts in the history of gymnastics. She represented the United States of America at the last Summer Games, held in 2021.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Sunisa was expected to compete only on uneven bars and balance beam during the finals of the team event. However, the withdrawal of Simone Biles from the team event after the first rotation led to Sunisa replacing her in the floor exercise.

Sunisa Lee of Team United States competes in the Women's Uneven Bars Final on day nine of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre

She completed all her routines successfully by scoring 15.400 in uneven bars, 14.133 on the balance beam, and 13.666 in floor exercises. Her contributions were vital to the United States of America finishing in second place and winning the silver medal in the team event finals.

Sunisa claimed her first Olympic gold medal in the all-around event. She completed all her routines and posted a score of 57.433. The American gymnast finished ahead of Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and the Russian Olympic Committee's Angelina Melnikova.

Andrade finished in second place and Melnikova finished third. In the uneven bars event finals, Sunisa finished in third place with a score of 14.500. This helped her win the bronze medal. She missed out on adding another Olympic medal by finishing in fifth place in the balance beam finals.

Overall, she had a great Olympic debut in Tokyo and Sunisa Lee would be expected to put on a better performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics than Tokyo. Of course, that is if she recovers from her health issues.