Olympic Star Suni Lee Reveals 45-Pound Weight Gain Due to Kidney Illness

Suni Lee, the Olympic all-around gymnastics gold medalist, will miss the 2023 Gymnastics World Championships due to a kidney problem that also ended her collegiate career at Auburn. She told USA Today’s Josh Peter that her undisclosed illness caused her to gain 45 pounds this year.

“I couldn’t fit into any of my clothes,’’ Lee reportedly said Thursday. “My eyes were swollen shut. It was just so scary.’’

The good news is that Lee appeared to be in the same shape she was in when she won all-around gold, team silver, and uneven bars bronze in Tokyo. She attributed her progress to a modified diet, lowering sodium to reduce water retention, and changing her training method.

She mentioned that although she still experiences difficult days, she is currently in a much better place than before.

Also Read: 5-year-old Kansas girl raped, murdered after mom kicked her out of the house

“I haven’t had a really bad day in a while,’’ Lee said. “But in the beginning it was like I was waking up swollen. My fingers were so swollen they wouldn’t fit into my grips and I couldn’t hold on to the bar. …

“My whole body was swollen because I was retaining water, so I couldn’t do a flip. … So it was really different and I had to learn how to work through it.’’

Lee stopped competing for Auburn in February and revealed the reason two months later. Despite returning to competition in August and winning bronze in the beam at the US Classic, she declined an invitation to the World Championships team selection camp due to a kidney problem.

Lee told USA Today that she didn’t want to risk causing harm to her body in a non-Olympic year, and that she isn’t thinking about competing in Paris next year during her recovery.

Olympic Star Suni Lee Reveals 45-Pound Weight Gain Due to Kidney Illness first appeared on sports.yahoo