USA Gymnastics star Simone Biles bowed out of the women's individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics after earlier pulling herself from the team event, but an American is still going home with the gold. With Biles out, Suni Lee stepped up and won the gold medal herself.
This continues a long run of American women dominating this event:
SUNI LEE WINS GOLD IN THE ALL-AROUND 🥇
An American woman has won every Olympic all-around since 2004! pic.twitter.com/oOcIeBvsRU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 29, 2021
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As noted, this streak started at the 2004 Olympics. That was when Carly Patterson won gold. This was then followed up by gold medals for Nastia Liukin, Gabby Douglas, Biles and now Lee. USA Gymnastics also won silver in two of those years, with Shawn Johnson getting silver behind Liukin in 2008 and Aly Raisman getting silver behind Biles in Rio.
Lee is 18 years old from Minnesota and competing in her first Olympics. After helping USA Gymnastics win silver in the wake of Biles' exit (she replaced Biles on floor exercise), she stepped up to the plate in this individual competition to own the day in Tokyo. It was an incredible moment for her and her parents:
She did it. @sunisalee_ is the queen of the women’s gymnastics all-around finals and her parents. OMG. Tears every where. 🥺 #Gold #TokyoOlympics #hmong pic.twitter.com/n2xM7VJOPq
— Gia Vang (@Gia_Vang) July 29, 2021
It has been a whirlwind week for USA Gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics. They entered the team competition as the favorite with Biles leading the way, and her decision to withdraw after a vault slip-up shocked the world and brought about plenty of reaction from all corners.
While there has naturally been some negative reaction to Biles' decision, there has also been an outpouring of support for her as she works on her mental health. She stuck around to cheer on her teammates, and it had to be cool for her to see Lee perform so well in the all-around to win gold:
Simone Biles and Team USA in the stands supporting Suni Lee and Jade Carey ❤️ pic.twitter.com/fuH1JxKPqr
— ESPN (@espn) July 29, 2021
Congrats to Suni Lee and USA Gymnastics on an incredible performance. After the Olympics, she'll be attending Auburn.
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