Suni Lee Was All Smiles As She Crushed Floor Routine to Win Bronze Medal

Lee stuck her floor routine to earn a bronze medal in the individual all-around.

Suni Lee did it. Against all odds, she made her way back on to the podium during the Olympic all-around competition Thursday in Paris, and she did it with a 10,000-watt smile.

Lee had to nail her floor routine on the last rotation of the competition to put herself in position for a bronze medal. She did just that. And it looked like she knew she had it locked up after her first pass, where she absolutely stuck the landing. She immediately broke out into a huge smile, as if she was surprised by how well she had done. She wore that expression for the rest of the routine.

Video is below.

Another look.

And a still.

Lee needed a 13.533 to earn the bronze and wound up posting a score of 13.666. Then she watched as teammate Simone Biles crushed her floor routine, earning a 15.066 and winning the gold medal with a score of 59.131, a massive win over Brazil's Rebeca Andrade who finished at 57.932. Lee finished at 56.465.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Lee won gold in the individual all-around after Biles bowed out as she battled the twisties. In March of 2023, she was diagnosed with a kidney disease that derailed her career. She got back to competing early in 2024 this year and made the U.S. Olympic team, placing second in the all-around. Now she earned her way back on to the podium on the highest stage.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.