Auburn’s Lee: Kidney issues kept her from meets

Reigning Olympic all-around gymnastics champion Suni Lee says kidney issues kept her from competing in her final collegiate meets with the Auburn Tigers.

“I have been dealing with a non-gymnastics health related issue involving my kidneys,” Lee said in a statement on her social media accounts Monday, providing detail to what she and Auburn previously referred to only as “a non-gymnastics health issue.”

Lee missed four meets, including this past weekend’s NCAA regionals in Los Angeles, where the Tigers did not qualify to NCAA championships in Fort Worth, Texas. Because Lee did not compete, she is unable to advance to Fort Worth as an individual.

“For my safety, my medical team did not clear me to train and compete over the last few weeks,” Lee wrote, adding, “My focus at this time is my health and recovery.”

Lee competed for two years with the Tigers after winning the Olympic all-around title in Tokyo, and she said she still plans to pursue a spot on the 2024 Olympic team. “In fact, this experience has sharpened my vision for the future,” she wrote.

The 20-year-old announced in November that she would leave Auburn after this season to train for the Olympics. But on March 9, she posted on social media that she would miss her final home meet with a health issue. Auburn fans didn’t know it at the time, but they watched Lee compete in her final home meet, where she took the vault title, against Georgia on Feb. 24.

“We are immensely fortunate and blessed to have had Suni be a part of our team these last two years,” Auburn coach Jeff Graba said in a statement to ESPN. “It was an honor to coach a world-class athlete and it was rewarding to see her not only achieve a lot of her collegiate goals, but to watch her become a great teammate as well. We strive to put our student-athletes’ well-being ahead of athletic performance and in this case, we felt like we made the best decision for her health and future. We are so excited to cheer Suni on as she pursues another Olympic dream and can’t wait to see what else is in store for her.”