Suni Lee Net Worth: How Much Does the Gold Medalist Have in the Vault?
Olympic gymnast Suni Lee, who was recently pepper-sprayed on her arm during a racist attack, has built up a lot of money even though she is young.
Her journey in gymnastics started many years ago. Born on March 9, 2003, in South St. Paul, Minnesota, Lee began training in gymnastics at age 6 at the Midwest Gymnastics Center in Little Canada, Minnesota, where she still trains.
Suni Lee Net Worth
Sunisa “Suni” Lee is an American gymnast with a net worth of $3 million. She won the gold medal for the women’s all-around at the 2020 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal for the uneven bars. Suni has been on the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team six times and helped the team win gold at the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics.
In 2021, she competed on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and finished in fifth place with her partner Sasha Farber. That same year, “Time” magazine named her one of the world’s most influential people. In 2022, she was nominated for two ESPY Awards: Female Athlete and U.S. Female Olympian.
Suni Lee Early Life
Suni Lee was born Sunisa Phabsomphou on March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her mom, Yeev Thoj, moved to the U.S. from Laos when she was a child and works in healthcare. Since Suni was 2 years old, Yeev’s long-time partner, John Lee, has helped raise her, and Suni sees him as her dad. Suni has three half-siblings: Lucky, Evionn, and Noah. Evionn also competes in gymnastics.
Suni started taking gymnastics lessons at age 6 at the Midwest Gymnastics Center. She began competing a year later and won the all-around at a Minnesota state meet. When she was 8, she moved up three levels, and by 11, she qualified for the elite program. Punnarith Koy coached her until she was 12.
Suni Lee Personal Life
In August 2019, right before Suni’s first senior USA Gymnastics National Championships, her father was paralyzed from the waist down after falling off a ladder. In 2020, both of Lee’s aunt and uncle passed away because of COVID-19. Suni talked about these sad events, saying, “I fought off the negative thoughts and the sadness, and just focused. Now I feel like I’m stronger because of it. I am stronger because of it.”
In November 2021, while in Los Angeles for “Dancing with the Stars,” Suni and her friends were sprayed with pepper spray by people in a car who yelled racist insults at them and told them to “go back to where they came from.” Suni talked about the upsetting incident to “Pop Sugar,” saying, “I was so angry, but there was nothing I could do because they drove away. I didn’t do anything to them, and because of my reputation, it’s hard because I didn’t want to do anything that could cause trouble. I just let it happen.”
In early 2022, Suni’s relationship with USC Trojans football player Jaylin Smith faced hurtful comments from some in the Hmong-American community who didn’t like that she was dating someone of a different race.
To learn more about the fortunes of different stars, read the articles listed below:
- Seth Binzer Net Worth: A Deep Dive Into the Rock Star’s Wealth in 2024
- Kim Coles Net Worth: A Closer Look at the Comedian’s Financial Success
Suni Lee Career
In 2015, Lee started competing in the Hopes division. The next year, she moved up to junior elite. In 2017, she joined the junior national team and competed in her first international event, the Gymnix International Junior Cup. There, she won a silver medal in uneven bars and a gold medal with her team. In May 2017, Suni announced she’d go to Auburn University on a gymnastics scholarship.
View this post on Instagram
She won silver medals in beam, vault, and floor and gold in the team final at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. An ankle injury kept her from the Pan American Junior Championships, but she came in fifth in the 2018 U.S. Classic all-around and won gold on the beam. At the 2018 U.S. Nationals, she got bronze in all-around.
In 2019, she shone at the City of Jesolo Trophy, winning gold in floor, bars, and all-around, and bronze on beam. A couple of injuries slowed her down that year, but she kept winning, like at the 2019 U.S. Nationals with gold in bars, silver in all-around, and bronze in floor. She made the national team and won silver and bronze at the 2019 World Championships.
View this post on Instagram
In 2020, she recovered from more injuries, and by 2021, she was winning again, like gold in bars at the 2021 Winter Cup. She did even better at the 2021 American Classic with gold in bars and beam. At the 2021 National Championships, she finished first in bars and second in all-around and beam, securing her spot in the Olympic Trials. The Olympics got pushed to 2021 due to COVID-19, but Suni still won gold in all-around, bronze in bars, and silver with her team.
She got honored by Minnesota officials and won the Asia Game Changer Award in October 2021. In 2022, she started college at Auburn University and kept winning, like at the SEC Championships and NCAA Championship.
Contents