Suni Lee stellar in all-around return at U.S. Gymnastics Championships | NBC Sports

Over to the balance beam and the reigning Olympic all-around gold medalist Suni Lee Star at Auburn since that time but also coming back from serious illness two different types of kidney disease Since it's in remission now getting the medication right been really difficult to road back, but here she is at Nationals And she's starting on a good event for her She's actually won us classic just two weeks ago on this event without even her full difficulty You know Terry you probably know this but gymnastics is more a mental sport So the conversation between Suni and her coach have been she has the endurance But she hasn't done the same amount of numbers to convince her mind that she should have the confidence So every moment she competes is really adding it to the bank Great save Crooked there on that triple series and then you get a little rattled. It's tough to Put that in the past and continue your routine So not the best one we've seen from Sunni but Sam she hasn't competed in the elite all-around since Tokyo College Yes But at this level all four of those apparatus and rotations 14.2 the number for Sunni Lee Sunni Lee is about to go on floor Terry and Sam were talking about some of the kidney challenges that Sunni continues to work through Health is really pivotal to her diet and everything that she does her coach Jess Grava told me low sodium foods are really hard to come by on the road They have bought air fryers in every single city so they can cook chicken or salmon in the hotel room as soon as health continues To improve restaurants are now an option, but they have to make sure that the food is bland and basic Sunni said people just don't understand how hard it has been and how incredible it is that she's even doing gymnastics She told me having a doctor tell you that you probably won't ever be able to do your sport again is Heartbreaking and after months of just trying to get through routines Sunni and her team have some goals this week They're hoping for a top-five finish Thank you. And here she is on floor Looks powerful in that opening pass Regaining her strength has been a really important part of her progression in this comeback It's interesting her coach also told us her endurance is is almost there She now needs to believe that her endurance is there It's really hard for an elite athlete You're told at a young age that you have to do so many numbers in order to gain your confidence But as you get older, you actually want to rely on your mental training a little bit more So it's not as taxing on your body and that's where she is in her training Being more intentional with the quality over quantity They use each of these moments in competition as practice That's what she's lacking right now is a little bit of training So her coach just gray, but right there knows that each time she competes. It's a great opportunity Two-time US all-around silver medalist Sunni Lee will get the number in a moment There's Sunni Lee 13 to 5 for the floor exercise It looks good as she has a strong execution score and not quite the difficulty of some of the athletes here But that'll come over to vault and Sunni Lee in eighth place after two rotations 21 year old from st. Paul, Minnesota who just became a star in Tokyo And this is her first time doing this vault in three years, it's a really big moment for Sunni Lee Here Chanko double full So far so good for Sunni Lee. Yeah, you can see her take a breath of Just so happy that she put that to her feet Pleased with the number 14 on vault for Sunni Lee Yeah, I think Sunni is gonna be very pleased to see that number and just to prove to herself again But the theme for Sunni Lee is proving to herself we keep hearing that come up when she talks to all of us and This is something that she was nervous about coming into the competition and knowing she's still got it I think that's gonna add a lot of confidence to her bank We head to the final rotation here in Fort Worth Sunni Lee about to be on uneven bars We saw her compete a few weeks ago. She did not compete at this event John important routine coming up for her I think that is an understatement Terry if my opinion matters and I'm gonna get controversial here This I think is the most important single routine out of all the gymnastics being done when piecing together That Olympic team that puzzle with a lot of different solutions I think revolves around a routine like this because it is so important to Team USA This is not their best event the uneven bars But Sunni Lee is a difference maker if she can get back to the form we saw in Tokyo She will be on this team this one right here matters more than any other bronze Medalist at the Olympics here at Sunni Lee. Yeah, I agree. This is important, but she's only doing Not full strength in this bar routine They're working on building stamina under pressure, that's the goal of this whole meet And these connections are looking smooth They said her body comp has changed so significantly with the medication and to put it to her feet And to do it very easily. I mean there's more in the tank John She delivered exactly what you wanted to see from Sunni Lee You know it and her coach Jess Grava said during the training goes This is kind of like a last half of a routine But that right there that last half that's darn near a Final routine at a World Championships or a little bit I would have paid a lot of money to have that routine be my entire routine And it's just a last half for her And just to remind people what we talked about early in the night two different types of kidney disease Which she's come back from I mean working out the medication has been such a challenge and under the Mayo Clinic now once every three Months for treatment the endurance the stamina the confidence to build up to this moment Yeah, exactly Terry Jess Grava her coach right there saying that her stamina is better But her belief in the stamina is not quite there so every moment that she delivers under pressure is increasing her own confidence in herself 14.3 on bars for Sunni Lee remember she was in seventh heading in this final rotation