Lee wins all-around gymnastics title at Tokyo Olympics

16 hours ago

Auburn Athletics

Photo: Auburn Athletics

TOKYO, Japan – Auburn gymnastics incoming freshman Sunisa Lee cemented her name in Olympic history as she captured gold for Team USA in the individual all-around Thursday at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“What a fantastic day! I am so proud of Suni and my brother Jess on all they’ve achieved through this journey,” head Auburn gymnastics coach Jeff Graba said.

“This is truly a monumental achievement and for Auburn to be a part of it is so awesome. Congrats Suni and War Eagle!”

Lee won the all-around with a 57.433. She topped Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade (57.298) and Russia’s Angelina Melnikova (57.199).

With the win, Lee continued the line of U.S. Olympic champions and became the fifth straight American to take gold in the all-around and sixth overall.

Lee held a slim .101 lead over Andrade heading into the final rotation. She nailed her floor routine for a 13.700 to edge out Andrade’s 13.666 to claim the top spot on the podium.

Lee kicked off the competition with a 14.600 on vault in rotation one, scoring her best in the event in the Olympic competition.

She followed with her specialty and scored a 15.300 on the uneven bars. That mark was the best in the field on the day.

Lee had a small balance check on beam, but still put together a great score with a 13.833 to hold the slim lead heading to floor.

The soon-to-be Tiger still has two more opportunities to medal at this year’s Olympic games. Lee will compete in the individual uneven bars (August 1, 3 a.m. CT) and the individual beam (August 3, 3 a.m. CT) finals for Team USA.