Sunisa Lee had her knees pulled against her chest after practice one afternoon last month. The gymnastics star is wearing a pink hoodie with the words "happiness project" across the front, a reference to the apparel company by the same name that donates a portion of proceeds to mental health organizations.
She talked about life after winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, and how she showed up to her freshman year at auburn unmotivated by gymnastics.
She says there has been a lot of doubt about her winning the Olympics.
When Lee left Minnesota last summer, she had just turned 18 years old, and wasn't expected to challenge Simone Biles as the superstar of the games. Maybe Lee would win a gold medal on bars in the all-around competition. Lee suddenly found herself in the spotlight when the sport was shocked by the withdrawal of Simone Biles.
She won gold in the all-around. Suni Lee became an overnight sensation.
She became a celebrity in a few months after her appearance on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. If she expected a normal college experience as she took on her next challenge of being a student-athletes at auburn, she has received the opposite.
She says that she would have thought that she had gotten used to it by now.
A few months ago, she attended a basketball game and worked up the nerve to say hello to the NBA Hall of Fame forward-turned-television analyst. As Lee tried to introduce herself, she was cut off and boomed, "I know who you are!"
She says that that is the GOAT of auburn. She was invited to be a guest on his show, where she was asked a number of questions, including how she pulled off the Nabieva maneuver for the first time in NCAA history.
When the interview was over, he told the co-host that he couldn't imagine being that famous on a college campus.
Surprised, Johnson asked, "Weren't you?"
"Not like that," he said.
Lee is doing something that has never been done before. She is the first Olympic gymnast to compete in college. It has led to her drawing huge crowds wherever she goes and a never-ending stream of requests for pictures and autographs, creating an extremely complicated life for a college freshman.
She says there is so many people watching her.
Her teammates are supportive and her coaches are keeping a close eye on her. It is a tall order, with the NCAA Regional in auburn on Thursday. Another in a long line of sellouts is promising to be. Even if the team does not advance to the NCAA Championships, she can still compete as an individual by achieving the top all-around or event score by a gymnast on an eliminated team. She would be the second gymnast to win an individual NCAA title and an Olympic gold if she were to win an individual NCAA title.
She has found much-needed support in the midst of the chaos of superstardom, a type that is new to her in a sport that has long put her in solitary practice.
Lee says that he needed to be part of a team to find his love for the sport again.
MayBE normal is a target when you are a freshman with 1.7 million followers on the photo-sharing site. Lee has yet to take an in-person class despite being on campus for five months. She stopped going to basketball games because of the attention.
After leaving Dancing with the Stars and returning to her full-time job, Lee said she wasn't motivated to be at the gym. She heard whispers that she wouldn't have won the gold medal if she hadn't withdrawn from the competition. It made her feel like a different person.
She says that the first couple of weeks she was here, she hated gymnastics.
She and Jeff Graba had a relationship. He was sympathetic but firm.
The coach asked if he would quit and what he would do with his life.
Lee didn't have an answer. She was not ready to give up on gymnastics. She wanted to prove her doubters wrong.
Lee says that he helped him flip the switch.
It is difficult to imagine how this college experiment would work if Graba was not there. Their families have known one another for a long time, with Lee attending camps at a young age. Jess has been Lee's personal coach for more than a decade. The brothers have the same style of coaching and look and sound alike.
Lee chose to go to auburn because of their ability to work in tandem.
Graba says that because she was my brother's athlete, our communication happened quickly.
Lee was sitting a few feet away.
Graba talked to Lee about her bar routine. She was clear about her plan, but Graba wanted to simplify things. College is less about the difficulty of maneuvers than it is about the execution. They went back and forth, back and forth, until Graba added up Lee's desired routine, which came out to a starting score of 11.
Graba wondered if you can do better than a 10.
It takes most gymnasts two years to get comfortable with a debate like that.
The first day was stretching and the second day was on.
They've had an unusual freshman year, which included leaving for Los Angeles and Dancing with the Stars, while the rest of the team prepared for the season. Graba says the deal was done to facilitate the best experience for Lee, so they did not fight it. They try to set aside time for her when she has endorsements.
It is a constant challenge.
Graba says that she's handled it well, but that people don't realize how much pressure she's under.
The future teammates of Lee were put in an awkward situation when she was in Tokyo and L.A. The incoming teammate was out of sight while they were practicing and building bonds with one another.
Drew says there was some apprehension about Lee coming in and how it might affect the team.
She's not like everyone else, so you don't want to say that. She is famous. Not saying that other people are not, but it is different.
It is not realistic to say that Lee is just one member of a 19-person team. She introduced fourth because gymnasts are brought out from youngest to oldest in alphabetical order.
There is no big to-do on the part of the event staff. There is no formal special treatment for her.
Graba says that Suni gets a huge round of applause when she is announced as the gold medal winner. She does not want to be separated like that.
Lee had never been part of a team. Lee apologetically says that it sounds bad out loud, but in the world of elite gymnastics she didn't have to share. She didn't have to talk to anyone in the gym if she didn't want to. In a college setting that wasn't going to work.
She made a conscious effort to speak to others.
She did a good job coming in and proving herself, as they all got to know one another.
We are used to it now. It would be different if she acted better than us. We try to help her mentally stay engaged.
The teammates of Lee had to adjust to the brighter glare of fame. In the past, a meet might sell out before doors open. They are selling out a few days in advance. They began selling standing-room-only tickets this season. The Kentucky basketball game is one of the biggest draws every season, but more students attend the Alabama meet.
I would say that it has taken off this year.
The level of fan engagement is comparable to that of football, according to the gymnast who won a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics. She says that the awareness and support is unprecedented.
Peszek says that having a star on your team makes you elevate the entire team, and that she feels that the team has been overlooked in recent years.
Peszek hopes that Lee will help grow the sport as a whole.
Graba can see that happening.
Graba says that Suni has brought in non-gymnastics fans to see what he has done.
It is basically like a prairie fire. It has spread all over the country and the plains here in auburn.
Graba used to think that the walk from the visitor's locker room to the team bus was a safe place, but then he opened the doors at Georgia and was met with a wall of fans.
He says he couldn't get through the crowd. He cannot believe that they have had to hire security for the season.
Graba tried to prepare his gymnasts. He did a lot of team-building exercises this summer. Multiple sports psychologists were brought in by him. He could not have expected it to surpass anything.
It is fun but difficult, and he calls it the auburn circus. Graba saw exhausted gymnasts after practice one day last month.
Graba says that that is not what Suni signed up for. They are gymnasts. I don't think anyone understood that you signed up to lose your privacy.
After posting a record team score against Florida, auburn lost to Alabama The Tigers lost to Michigan a second time. They finished third at the SEC Championship.
There is a feeling among the team that they can turn things around.
Veteran leaders told the team to stay the course.
Don't let your attitude be defined for you, and tighten up, sharpen up, and do the things that you need to do.
As the team prepared for a meet one day earlier this season, Lee jumped off the balance beam and noticed her hands were trembling. Her heart was racing and her breathing was labored. She had been whispering to herself that she could not do this.
She told Graba that she might not be able to compete.
One of her teammates shouted: "Get her journal!"
Lee put her head down and started writing. She didn't look up until she filled two full pages with notes.
I feel anxious right now. I need to calm down. I need to breathe. Why am I feeling this way?
She felt her breathing and shaking less as she read her self-examination. An assistant coach took a look at her and the journal and remarked, "WOW, you really needed to write that down."
I put so much pressure on myself that I get to the point where I really need a break.
She is learning to work through her emotions and remind herself that she is good enough.
🔑 pic.twitter.com/FG6mkr3oi4
— Sunisa lee (@sunisalee_) February 26, 2022
She says that it is important because a lot of the times people forget that we are human.
There is more time in the public eye with the heightened expectations. She competed five times a year. She is going into her 12th meet in three months.
How sustainable is this? Can she keep competing?
Lee says that she is telling herself that she will have time to rest later.
She says that her body is where she needs it to be. It can all come together in the end if I can just put it all together right now.
I also know that there is more left in me. I want to prove to myself that I deserved to win the gold medal at the Olympics.
She hopes that she will be able to compete in Paris in 2024. Lee told Graba that she doesn't think she's reached her full potential yet. I have more in me.
She feels the same way.
She says they have been through a lot. Lee looks at all they have accomplished and gets excited because they still gave away a lot of things.
She says that it is really cool, because it would be like if we were to go out and do what we normally do.
She is excited about celebrating a national championship with her teammates.
Just a few more steps and she will be there.
She stopped as she was about to leave the interview. An administrator tells Lee to go out the back way.
Dozens of little girls are about to arrive for after-school practice and if they spot Lee, nothing will stop them. There will be pictures and autographs and there is no idea how long it will take her to break free from the spotlight that seems to follow her everywhere she goes.
The front door is being used by normal. Suni Lee's life is not like that.
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