Tokyo Olympics: Hmong-American Sunisa Lee adds bronze medal on uneven bars for USA
- The 18-year-old wins third medal of 2020 Games following silver in team competition and all-around gold
- Nina Derwael of Belgium takes the gold medal and the Russian Anastasiia Iliankova secures bronze
Sunisa Lee will have her carry-on stuffed with medals when she heads back to the United States.
The 18-year-old Olympic gymnastics champion from Minnesota added a bronze in the uneven bars finals on Sunday. Lee earned a silver in the team competition on Tuesday before grabbing gold in the all-around on Thursday.
Lee has endured a bit of the usual whirlwind that comes with the territory when you win an Olympic title. The three days since her star-making triumph has featured the usual trappings of instant fame: from the social media shoutouts by celebrities to a crush of new followers on Instagram to a series of interviews.
She and Nina Derwael of Belgium are the two best bar workers in the world, their routines are jam-packed with a series of difficult connections and releases strung together with such ease it seems like they’re making it up as they go along.
Wearing a dazzling crystal-laden blue leotard, Lee led off and wasn’t quite as crisp as usual. She failed to connect a couple of elements early in her set, costing her tenths of a point along the way.
Derwael, a two-time world champion in the event, was a little more fluid. Her 15.2 was easily the highest of the night and gave Belgium it’s first-ever gold in artistic gymnastics.
