In Pictures: Suni Lee dazzles in Glamour photo shoot after being named Woman of the Year following impressive comeback at Paris Olympics

By Abhiruchi Rout

Modified Oct 03, 2024 20:54 GMT

Suni Lee recently shared glimpses from her photoshoot with Glamour, the New York City-based online women’s magazine by Condé Nast Publications. This comes after she was honored with Glamour’s Woman of the Year title following her exploits at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Lee made a remarkable comeback to the USA’s women’s gymnastics team in 2024 after being diagnosed with an incurable rare kidney disease last year, owing to which she retired from collegiate gymnastics. Following her diagnosis, she took a break from the sport and returned to competitions at the 2024 Winter Cup.

Lee bounced back with a great performance at the 2024 Core Hydration Classic where she placed first on the balance beam, scoring 14.600 points. She then featured at the Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships, coming fourth in the all-around with a score of 110.650.

Finally, at the most awaited US Olympic Gymnastics Trials which chose the team for the Paris Olympics, Lee stood out with her exemplary performance as she qualified for her second Summer Games after finishing second to only Simone Biles (117.225) by earning 111.675 points.

At the grandest stage of the Paris Olympics, Suni Lee added three more Olympic medals, including a gold in the women’s team event and two bronze medals in the individual all-around and uneven bars to take her overall tally to six medals.

Following her remarkable comeback, Lee was recognized as one of the honorees in Glamour magazine's Women of the Year for the 2024 edition. The Minnesota-born athlete thanked the leading magazine for the recognition on Instagram.

Watch glimpses of Lee featured in an exclusive photoshoot for Glamour below:

Besides Lee, Serena Williams and Allyson Felix are other notable athletes who were honorees for the award.

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“I just felt I was kind of letting them down”- Suni Lee on being embarrassed after weight gain due to kidney disease

Suni Lee at Paris Olympics (Photo by Christina Pahnke - sampics/Getty Images)

Due to her kidney disease, Suni Lee also experienced weight gain and had to return to the gym and get back to her previous routine to make a comeback. During that phase, she faced mental challenges.

In the interview with Glamour, she expressed her embarrassment about showing her face since many young girls looked up to her, stating:

“The hardest thing was just waking up and going to the gym, forcing myself, because a part of me was just so embarrassed and ashamed to show my face. There are so many little girls in the gym that look up to me, and I just felt I was kind of letting them down, because I wasn’t able to do a lot of things.”

To address her mental health challenges, Lee said she turned to self-care practices such as therapy, journaling, and more.