Suni Lee won the gold for the women’s all-around title on Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 18-year-old gymnastic broke down in tears when they made the announcement crowning her the fifth consecutive American woman to win the title.
Her score of 57.433 beat out Rebeca Andrade from Brazil who won the silver and is the first from her country to win a medal for gymnastics. Russia’s Angelina Melnikova won the bronze.
Suni’s victory was celebrated by her teammates Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, MyKayla Skinner and Grace McCallum who were rooting for the Minnesota native from the stands.
This has been a difficult week for the U.S. gymnastics team after their star athlete Simone Biles withdrew from the all-around and team competitions due to mental health concerns.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the star athlete would not defend her title in the 2020 Olympic games in an effort to focus on her mental health.
“After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to focus on her mental health. Simone will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement on Wednesday.
Jade Carey, who had the ninth highest score in qualifications competed in the individual all-around in her spot but came in eighth place.
“We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many,” USA Gymnastics said.
Simone stepped away from the women’s gymnastics team final at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday after only participating in the vault, where she scored the lowest score of her career at 13.766 after changing her plans for a Amanar vault for a simpler 1.5 twist. Despite the unexpected change, the team went on to win silver behind the athletes from the Russian Olympic Committee.
Simone is the first woman since 1992 to advance to the final in all six possible Olympic events. She was set to compete in the team final, the individual all-around final, and in the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor event finals.
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