Olympic champion Suni Lee surprises students at St. Paul elementary school

Suni Lee hugs Malina Xiong, Lee's 3rd-grade teacher, during a back-to-school donation event with Amazon to donate $50,000 in school supplies for STEM programs to her alma mater Thursday in St. Paul.

By Elizabeth Shockman / MPR News

August 19, 2022 at 8:47 AM

ST. PAUL -- Olympic gold medalist and international celebrity, gymnast Sunisa Lee paid a special visit Thursday to St. Paul鈥檚 Battle Creek Elementary, where she was once a student.

The school鈥檚 leaders invited students to the school鈥檚 gymnasium for a back-to-school donation event. Principal Kristen Longway told them there would be a special guest, but it wasn鈥檛 until all the kids were sitting on the floor, that the star gymnast was introduced.

The winner of the women鈥檚 gymnastics all-around title at the Tokyo Olympics surprised the young fans.

Suni Lee talks with a young fan at Battle Creek Elementary.

Lee, who鈥檚 currently studying business marketing at Auburn University, where she is a sophomore, took time to talk to students and pose with them for photos.

鈥淭he community has really helped me realize my passion as an athlete and a gymnast 鈥鈥檓 especially proud of the Hmong community,鈥� Lee told the audience.

Kaylah Morris, 11, admires Lee.

鈥淚鈥檓 in gymnastics and I really want to go to the Olympics or at least college gymnastics,鈥� she said.

Lee also reconnected with old teachers and coaches at the school, saying they pushed her to do more. They knew she wanted to compete in the Olympics.

鈥淲e were just talking about it. I was like, 鈥榊eah, you always used to make me climb the rope, even when I wasn鈥檛 at practice or you used to make me do more pull-ups than everybody else.鈥欌€�

Lee has also thrilled collegiate audiences with her performance on Auburn鈥檚 gymnastics team. She hasn鈥檛 yet decided whether she鈥檒l aim for the Olympics in 2024.

鈥淎s of right now, I鈥檓 just kind of going with the flow, seeing what my body can do, what my mind can do just because the last Olympics was kind of very hard on my body and my mental (wellbeing). And I鈥檓 just trying to take it day by day.鈥�

Suni Lee poses with her former teachers at Battle Creek Elementary in St. Paul.

Suni Lee signs an autograph during her return to Battle Creek Elementary in St. Paul.

Suni Lee and schoolchildren at Battle Creek Elementary in St. Paul pose for a photograph. The Olympic champion returned to the school as part of an event with Amazon, which included a donation to the school.

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