'Super crazy' win for Lee

TOKYO • Sunisa Lee, an American gymnast who spent a lifetime aspiring to finish second to Simone Biles in the all-around because that was the best anyone could do, exceeded those expectations yesterday night by winning the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games.

With Biles out of the event after withdrawing because of mental health concerns, Lee took advantage of the opening left behind by the gymnast considered to be the best of all time after winning every all-around competition she entered since 2013.

Lee, 18, from Minneapolis, hit routine after routine, often as if she were at practice, not at the most important competition of her life. She clinched the gold in the all-around, which determines the best overall gymnast, just two days after rallying her teammates to claim silver in the team final.

She won with a points tally of 57.433, 0.135 clear of Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, with Russian team gold medallist Angelina Melnikova 0.099 away in third.

Biles, who pulled out of the team event after competing on the vault, was in the front row at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre to cheer on her compatriot, while Lee's family was gathered at a watch party back home in St Paul, Minnesota.

"It feels super crazy, I definitely didn't think I would be here in this moment with a gold medal," said Lee, who is the first Hmong American to compete at the Games.

"I haven't really let it sink in yet because I feel like it's not real life."

The teenager added of Biles' absence in the field: "It was a lot to take in, just because I was coming in to take a silver spot, but I feel like I just kinda went out there and did it for myself.

"I didn't really focus on the scoreboard, wasn't focusing on any of that because it just wasn't going to be a good competition if I did."

Lee's victory meant that the Americans have won the event at every Olympics since 2004 with the list comprising Carly Patterson (2004), Nastia Liukin (2008), Gabby Douglas (2012) and Biles (2016).

But it was no easy feat as it was another thriller at the Ariake arena that has seen a fourth final in four days go down to the final rotation.

As the gymnasts marched over to the floor, only 0.201 separated the top three of Lee, Andrade and 16-year-old Russian Vladislava Urazova. Lee, the youngest member of the US team, put down a marker in the floor exercise with a score of 13.700 but she had left the door open a crack for Andrade to snatch the gold.

But the Brazilian, who had looked so poised, finally cracked by stepping out on her first tumbling run and then did so a second time, scoring 13.666, with the mistakes likely costing her the gold.

As the scores finally flashed on the scoreboard to confirm Lee's win, her teammates sitting in the stands leapt and cheered, while she embraced coach Jess Graba as she wiped away tears of joy.

"It was really scary, I knew that I did the best routine that I could, so waiting there was probably the scariest moment," she said. "That's why I hate the waiting game."

Lee's win also marked the end of two difficult years, in which her father, John, fell while tree trimming in 2019 and was paralysed from the waist down, while her aunt and uncle died from Covid-19.

She also suffered a serious ankle injury but she never backed down.

"With the past years of Covid and my dad, and all that stuff, I'm super proud of myself for making it here because there was a point in time when I wanted to quit," Lee said.

"But I'm super happy I didn't because to be here and to be an Olympic gold medallist is just crazy."

NYTIMES, REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE