Olympic gymnast Suni Lee says she struggled with swelling and gained 40LBS before being diagnosed with an incurable kidney disease

Olympic gymnast Suni Lee has opened up about being diagnosed with an incurable kidney disease, saying she gained 40 pounds and continues to struggle with severe swelling all over her body. 

The 20-year-old was launched to stardom after winning the all-around individual gold medal at the 2020 Olympics. She went on to compete with Auburn University, but her NCAA gymnastics career came to an abrupt end this year due to her health.

Despite being unable to train consistently for the last six months, she remains focused on securing one of the five spots with Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In a new interview with Self magazine, the elite athlete detailed the symptoms that led to her life-changing diagnosis and how she feels pressure to keep up with her past self.  

Lee said her health issues began in February when she woke up with swollen ankles, but she assumed the puffiness was a side effect of her intense gymnastics training. 

The next morning, her entire body had swelled to the point that it felt like she had gained several pounds overnight. 

The athlete remembered thinking to herself, ‘This cannot be normal.’

After speaking with her coach, Jess Graba, they reached out to Dr. Marcia Faustin, the USA Gymnastics team physician. 

Lee wanted to see if she could keep training, but she found herself struggling on the equipment.  

‘I kept peeling off the bar. I couldn’t hold on,’ she recalled. ‘My fingers were so swollen, and I couldn’t even do a normal kip cast to handstand on bars.’

Lee’s doctors initially thought she was having an allergic reaction, but the swelling continued for weeks. 

‘I just kept getting more swollen…and I think I gained, like, 40 pounds,’ she said. ‘It affected my whole body and how I looked and how I was feeling.’ 

Lee was unable to compete at an away meet against Kentucky in early March because of her symptoms, and she started to worry her career was over. 

‘What if I’m never allowed to do gymnastics again or I can never make it to the Olympics again?’ she asked herself. 

After multiple tests and still no diagnosis, Dr. Faustin asked if Lee’s doctors and done a urine test based on her symptoms. She admitted that she had been having trouble peeing for two weeks. 

Lee’s urine labs suggested that she needed further testing, and she was eventually referred to a specialist who recommended a kidney biopsy to check for signs of damage or disease. 

She announced on April 3 that she was ending her final NCAA season at Auburn early due to a ‘non-gymnastics health-related issue involving my kidneys.’

Lee revealed her diagnosis off the record to Self, but she has yet to go public with it because her medical team believes it could change after further testing. 

However, she did note that the condition isn’t common and there is no cure. Her doctors are still working on her treatment plan, which includes medication to manage her symptoms. 

Lee shared that she is grateful to finally have answers regarding her health, but she admitted she was having a hard time coping with the diagnosis.  

‘How do I just randomly wake up one day swollen, and now I’m stuck with this condition for the rest of my life?’ she said. 

The gymnast’s health struggles have also cast doubt on whether she will be able to make her Olympic comeback.  

‘I look at myself all the time in videos, and it makes me emotional because I’m just not the same athlete I was before,’ she explained. 

Despite her fears, Lee made a triumphant return at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships last month and won a bronze medal on the balance beam. 

‘We didn’t think that I would be here. We didn’t know what was possible. We didn’t know what was wrong with me — and here I am on the big stage, competing,’ she said. 

Lee told the magazine that she is still learning to adjust to the unpredictable swelling, which occurs almost every day, and the side effects of her medications. 

After years of competitive gymnastics, she has had to develop different habits to keep her health in check, including eating more frequently, watching her salt intake, and resting more. 

The athlete has also been prioritizing her mental health. She moved back to Minnesota, started seeing a therapist twice a week, and got an Australian Shepherd puppy she named Bean. 

Above all, she has been learning to listen to her body, which led to her passing up the opportunity to compete in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Belgium this week.

However, Lee has made it clear that she’s not ready to give up her Olympic dreams just yet. 

‘I know gymnastics is not my whole life, and it’s not going to be my whole life,’ she said, ‘but for right now, it is my life.’