Source: Jamie Squire / Getty
Miss Sunisa Lee is shining at this year’s Olympic games.
Team USA gymnasts Lee and Jade Carey finished in first and eighth place, respectively, at the women’s gymnastics individual all-around competition on Thursday. Lee took home the gold after racking up 57.433 points, ahead of Rebeca Andrade of Brazil’s 57.298 and Angelina Melnikova of Russia’s 57.199.
Lee is now the first-ever Hmong American Olympic gold medalist!
Source: Tim Clayton – Corbis / Getty
She told PEOPLE earlier this year that being an Olympian means “the world” to her, adding “I want to do it for my family and coaches obviously, but I also want to do it for myself. I’ve just been through so much.”
So what do we know about Sunisa Lee? Well, she is from Minnesota and her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was just a toddler “after she started performing somersaults,” Heavy.com reports. Her parents (mom Yeev Thoj and stepdad John Lee) were both born in Laos, but were 12 and 7, respectively, when their families came to the United States.
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As for Jade Carey, PEOPLE reports “Carey had placed in ninth during the qualifiers last week, but after fellow Team USA member Simone Biles dropped out of the individual event — for which only two athletes from each country were permitted to participate — she moved into the empty spot. The 21-year-old was not a member of the team, instead selected for the Tokyo Games as an individual due to strong performances at four World Cup competitions starting in 2018.”
Check out more photos of Sunisa Lee enjoying her history-making win below. We are so proud of these girls!
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Source: Jamie Squire / Getty
Source: Abbie Parr / Getty
