Suni Lee Plans to Leave College Gymnastics After This Year: 'I Have My Sights Set' on 2024 Olympics
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LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Suni Lee
Suni Lee is ready to focus exclusively on making it to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, the 19-year-old gymnast addressed her future. Lee is currently a sophomore at Auburn University and competes for their Division 1 NCAA gymnastics team.
"Today I am sharing a decision that has weighed on me a really long time," the Dancing with the Stars alum said in the video. "As an athlete that has competed at the highest level on the world's biggest stage I've been fortunate enough to experience that once in a lifetime feeling and the indescribable emotion when the gold medal is draped around your neck. But I don't want it to just be once in a lifetime."
thank you to my @AuburnU family, you’ll forever have a special place in my heart. let’s make this season the best one yet. WAR EAGLE! pic.twitter.com/8ezp9WdM04
— Sunisa lee (@sunisalee_) November 15, 2022
The gymnast shared that competing for Auburn University was a dream of hers and that she'd learned so much about "myself, true teamwork and about community during my time here."
Lee then said she was going to turn her attention exclusively on training for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. "This will be my last season competing at Auburn University," she shared. "I'm so excited to share that after this season I will be returning to elite gymnastics. I have my sights set on Paris in 2024 and I know what I have to do to get there. I'm looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and putting in the work."
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In the video, she included clips from previous matches and even some videos of her doing gymnastics as a kid. As the clips of her as a young gymnast were playing, she encouraged young girls to follow their dreams.
"To every little girl whose circumstances have dictated their future but you pushed beyond them, I see you," Lee said. "I did it and you can do it too. Because really, nothing is impossible."
At the conclusion of her message, Lee thanked her teammates, coaches, staff and school supporters. "This special place will always be a part of me and my journey," she said. "And I'll always be an Auburn Tiger."
C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Suni Lee
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In the meantime, Lee is lighting up the floor (and beams, and vault) at Auburn.
"College has been amazing. It's been super fun," Lee told PEOPLE last month. "Having teammates, being somewhat normal is absolutely amazing. I mean, I'm not used to it, so it's definitely been a transition."
RELATED VIDEO: Suni Lee Clinches All-Around Gymnastics Gold Then Tearfully Celebrates with Team: 'We're So Proud,' Dad Says
Among her numerous accolades, Lee was also a semifinalist in the last season of Dancing with the Stars.
The gymnast, who was the first Hmong-American to represent America in the Olympics, made waves in 2020 when she brought home the gold medal for U.S. women's gymnastics during the individual all-around, a competition determining the best overall gymnast.
