Suni Lee plans to bring her Olympic medals to college

Suni Lee has been the picture of poise and maturity at the Tokyo Olympics, winning a gold, a silver and a bronze medal across the women's gymnastics competition.

However, the breakout star for Team USA reminded everyone that's she's still just a teenager when she told reporters after the balance beam final Tuesday night in Tokyo that she planned to bring her Olympic medals to college with her this fall.

"I don’t want to lose them, and I don’t want anything to happen to them," Lee said. "I’m probably going to take my worlds medals too, just in case. I think it’s a really good reminder and it’s gonna push me every single day to be even better."

Lee is attending Auburn University and will compete for the Tigers' gymnastics team. She is expecting to move from her hometown, St. Paul, Minnesota, to Auburn, Alabama, on Aug. 11, just six days after her flight home from Tokyo.

When she gets back to St. Paul, Lee has a few key things she hopes to do: see her family, eat a burger and go to Chick-fil-A. 

"I want Chick-Fil-A so bad," Lee said. "We’ve had the same food every single day being here."

The 18-year-old is an Olympic champion, but in a few days, she'll be just another college freshman among the nearly 25,000 undergraduate students at Auburn. She said she hasn't yet processed the magnitude of what she accomplished in Tokyo.

"I’m super proud of myself. Not very many people can say that they come to the Olympics their first time and bring home three medals," Lee said. "It’s so crazy how this Olympics experience has been. It’s been probably the weirdest one, so I’m really excited to go home and kind of let it all sink in."

SHARE