NOTE: Spoiler alert below. Women’s gymnastics qualifying will re-air in prime time starting at 7 p.m. on NBC 5
Reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee made a spectacular debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics, finishing the day with a monstrous bars routine just months after not knowing if she would be able to attend the games.
Lee, who is currently battling two kidney diseases, scored 14.866 on her bar routine, beating teammate Jordan Chiles for second place on the U.S. team in the individual all-around by just 0.067.
Only two athletes from each country can compete in the individual all-around final.
Chiles currently sits in third place after the first two subdivisions, with a score of 56.065, while Simone Biles remains nearly untouchable with 59.566.
At the Team USA media summit in April, Lee spoke about his battle with two kidney diseases.
“My motivation started to drop,” Lee said this week at the Team USA media summit.
“I couldn’t bend my legs, I couldn’t clench my fingers, my face was swollen,” Lee said, noting that she retained 40 pounds of water weight. “I looked like a completely different person. It was very, very miserable.”
She said she lived with constant pain, nausea and dizziness.
“We have the situation under control now,” she said. “We know what to do and what medications to take.”
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team earned a spot in the team final after finishing in first place after the first two subdivisions with a score of 172.296.
Team USA will compete for the medal in the team final on Tuesday, July 30 at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock and will be rebroadcast in primetime at 7 p.m. CT. The individual all-around competition will take place on Thursday, August 1 at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock and will be rebroadcast in primetime at 7 p.m. CT.
