Millions of Americans tuned in to the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 after a Covid-19 pandemic delay, and cheered on gymnast Suni Lee when she triumphantly won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around competition and a silver in the women’s team competition. Afterward, Lee continued with her gymnastics career until an unexpected diagnosis in 2023 threatened her future aspirations.

After experiencing unexplained swelling in her body, Lee was eventually diagnosed with kidney disease—though she’s chosen to not share the specific condition with the public. Subsequently, it was unknown whether she would be able to train for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. 

Suni Lee worked with her healthcare team and was eventually cleared to compete again, successfully making it back onto the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to win a team gold and two bronze medals in her second Olympics.

Now 21, Lee is looking ahead to life beyond gymnastics. She’s recently teamed up with the American Kidney Fund to share more about her story and the “Know Your Kidneys” initiative (more below). Ahead, she and American Kidney Fund’s president and CEO LaVarne A. Burton offer advice for what people should know about their kidney health and advocating for themselves—and Lee shares a sneak peek of her next challenge. 

This interview has been edited for length.

Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 6Naomi Baker/Getty Images

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The Healthy by Reader’s Digest: Suni, we’re such big fans here at The Healthy, and we followed your Olympics story closely. What have you been doing since the Olympics? Is this a time of rest and just enjoying the victories?

Suni Lee: Yeah, it’s been hectic. It’s been draining, but it’s definitely been super fun. I mean, I never would’ve thought that competing at the Olympics would put me in the rooms that I’m in now, so it’s just been such an amazing experience. I just moved to New York and I’ve been really into fashion lately, so I’ve been going to a bunch of fashion shows and getting to meet a bunch of people. I’ve just been kind of enjoying every moment and seeing where life takes me. 

The Healthy: Among the most inspiring athletes in the 2024 Olympics, you stand out so much having overcome such a physically debilitating condition, rehabbing through that, and just coming out to wow us at the Olympics. How has that shaped what you feel you’re capable of?

Suni Lee: It’s definitely changed my whole mindset. I had to go through so much and it just felt like such a lonely time. I was just constantly trying to work on myself and try and be a better person because when I came out of this, like I knew I would, I wanted to just look back and be grateful [for] the experience and everything that I’ve been through. I mean, the journey was really hard itself, but having the support system I did made it all worth it. And just being where I am now, it’s just been such an amazing experience. 

The Healthy: LaVarne, kidney disease is a wide-reaching condition. Can you tell us more about who’s most at risk for kidney disease, and what signs should people look out for?

LaVarne A. Burton: Anyone can be at risk for kidney disease, and as we see in Suni’s case, that includes young people. There are a number of different causes: high blood pressure and diabetes are actually the leading causes—but as in Suni’s case, there are also rare genetic causes. Infection can cause kidney disease, and sometimes we really don’t know the cause. Our campaign—Know Your Kidneys, Know Your Cause, Know Your Plan—is really all about, number one, increasing awareness and then going from awareness to some action tools.

You can come on our website, and you can complete some interactive tools that will help give you a preliminary assessment of your kidney health. You want to take that and if it indicates that your kidneys are somewhat compromised, then you want to work with your healthcare team to get to the bottom of your cause. And [the] website will also give you some personal information suited to you on how to have that conversation.

Suni had those really important, critical conversations with her healthcare team to try to get to the bottom and understanding the cause so that she could get the right treatment. Then once you’ve got that treatment plan, you want to follow it. 

Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 10Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Another really important thing, as you can hear from Suni’s case, is really being determined. She was so determined to understand it and to be able to go on about her life, which is just absolutely amazing. Your mental health is as important as your physical health here. We want to communicate to everybody that there are things that you can do and the [web]site is all about giving you some of that information. But we also want to know people who are affected by kidney disease to know that you’re not alone. There are over 35 million people in this country with some stage of kidney disease. Another thing that we do at the American Kidney Fund is trying to connect those people. We have an ambassador network that includes over 30,000 people who have kidney disease or relatives or friends or just supporters. And we connect those people through in-person activities as well as online activities [that] use your support systems. Not all of us have a gymnastics team, but we have some teams that we can go to who care about us. Use those teams as support teams because they’ll help see you through. Life goes on after a diagnosis of kidney disease, Suni’s such a great example of that. You can [still] achieve your dreams.

The Healthy: Suni, what are your thoughts on what kind of message would you want to share with people who also have kidney-related diseases or other chronic illnesses? It’s a large community but some people aren’t very public with their conditions or things they’re going through.

Suni Lee: I think my most important message would be to advocate for yourself. I know I had to when I was going through all of it because nobody would listen to me. Everyone was telling me that it was just allergies and nothing was wrong with me. So having to go to my doctor and kind of speak up for myself, even when my voice was shaking, that was probably one of the scariest moments because I’m not a doctor, I don’t know if I’m right or not. I just knew that I could feel it in my body and I knew that it wasn’t that.

Also, it’s just like a gut feeling when something’s wrong. I’d say to speak up for yourself, but also back to what LaVarne was saying, you’re not alone in this and there’s so many other people that are willing to support you and to just find your people.

The Healthy: What’s your next goal, either personally or professionally?

Suni Lee: I’m still trying to figure that out just because for the past 18 years, it’s always just been based around gymnastics. So my goal right now is to just kind of find life outside of it and to enjoy it because I’m so young. I just have so much more to experience. I used to think that gymnastics was my only problem and then leaving it now I’m like, “Wow, there’s a lot more things that other people go through that’s not gymnastics related.” [I’ve] just trying to find my normal and having fun with that. It’s been such an amazing experience living out here in New York all by myself.

The Healthy: What’s the self-care habit you refuse to skip?

Suni Lee: I have so many! Definitely journaling. I mean, I can’t go to sleep without journaling, getting my thoughts out, [and] writing my goals for the day, goals for the week, goals for the year. I literally write everything down. And I feel like that’s been something that’s so crucial and beneficial to my routine. But also my skincare routine–I can’t do anything without my skincare routine and therapy sessions. There’s just so much more that goes into it than I think a lot of people know.

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