Olympian Lee on comeback trail from kidney disease
STORY: The 21-year-old American, who won the all-around gold at the Tokyo Olympics, revealed late last year that the disease caused her face, fingers and legs to swell and made it difficult at times to even get out of bed with the uncommon disease causing her to gain 45 pounds of water weight.
"Obviously, I was very sad because gymnastics is all I know, and me getting sick was very random, and it just, kind of, happened on like, one random, like, Tuesday and it’s just, like, something that you can’t wrap your head around, but now that I’m, like, doing a lot better, I am just so grateful for the way that things have turned out, and how I’m able to be here.”
Lee said on Monday (April 15) she feels great in practice and is looking forward to the Olympic trials, which will be held in her home state of Minnesota in June.
Lee has been helped along on her journey by four-times Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, who withdrew from the team competition in Tokyo citing mental health issues.
Lee said that despite reaching the mountaintop in Tokyo, where as an 18-year-old she won the all-around title as well as bronze in the uneven bars and silver in the team event, she feels even more pressure now.
