WATCH: Suni Lee falls off the balance beam during the final at the Paris Olympics

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Aug 05, 2024 12:35 GMT

Sunisa Lee fell while performing on the balance beam in the final of the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Lee was in the middle of her balance beam routine when during an aerial maneuver, her foot slipped and she fell off the beam.

The video of the moment was shared on X (formerly Twitter):

Lee was able to recover, scoring 13.100. The American gymnast was immediately hugged by fellow gymnast Zhou Yaqin from China, who scored 14.100 to win the silver medal.

Alice D'Amato from Italy won the balance beam gold, with a score of 14.366. Lee was one of the strong contenders for an Olympic gold on the balance beam. But with a score of 13.100, she finished a disappointing sixth.

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Sunisa Lee's performance at the Paris Olympics

Sunisa Lee competing on the balance beam during the individual all-around finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

This was not the first time the American gymnast suffered a fall at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her first one, however, was not in a competitive outing. During the warmup for the uneven bars, Lee fell while going through her routine. Yet, she overcame the setback to win a bronze medal for USA in this event.

Lee has won one gold and two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics 2024. Lee also contributed to the brilliant performance of the USA women's gymnastics team in the team all-around event. She scored 14.566 on uneven bars, 14.600 on the balance beam, and 13.533 in the floor exercise event to contribute to the USA's overall score of 171.296, which was their gold medal-winning score in the team all-around event.

In the individual all-around final, while she couldn't defend her title from the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the American gymnast did manage to win the bronze medal, with an overall score of 56.465.

Lee began poorly in the vault section, with a score of 13.933. However, her performances in the balance beam and the uneven bars section were enough to secure the American gymnast an Olympic medal. Lee scored 14.866 in the uneven bars section, 14.000 in the balance beam, and 13.666 in the floor exercise events, respectively, to secure the bronze medal.

Simone Biles won the gold medal with an impressive score of 59.131, while Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won the silver medal in the same event, with a score of 57.932.

Balance beam was Lee's final individual event at the Paris Olympics, where she aimed to win the gold medal. However, a fall brought an unfortunate end to her campaign at the Paris Olympics.