MINNEAPOLIS— Olympic gymnast Suni Lee adds another accolade to her list: she was named one of Glamour’s Women of the Year.
Each year, Glamor names several “pioneers, rule breakers, visionaries and champions who defined each year.” The two-time Olympic gold medalist from St. Paul competed in a class of 2024 that included athletes Serena Williams and Allyson Felix.
This year in Paris, Lee was part of the American team that won gold, which she described to Glamor as her “proudest achievement.” At the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, she took home the gold in the all-around after Simone Biles withdrew at the last minute.
After the 2021 games, Lee enrolled at Auburn University but left in 2023 to train for Paris. But then she battled a grueling one kidney disease ahead of the 2024 Olympics and wondered if she would ever return to the podium.
“I couldn’t bend my legs in the slightest, I couldn’t squeeze my fingers, my face was swollen,” she said, noting that she was holding 45 pounds of water weight. “I looked like a completely different person. It was very, very miserable.”
She was able to recover and despite a relapse the week before the Olympic trials, Lee returned from Paris with three medals, including two Olympic bronzes. individually all around and the uneven bars.
Francisco Seco/AP
Glamor also named actresses Sydney Sweeney, Pamela Anderson and Taraji P. Henson for the class of 2024. The class also includes abortion rights activists Hadley Duvall and Kaitlyn Jousha, and “The Moms,” a group of women who have created superstars such as Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, Travis Kelce and Selena Gomez because, in speeches and interviews, they are “the people we admire most.” They all seem to have the same person to thank for their success. Mom.”
