Suni Lee Struggled With Post-Gold Depression: 'Felt Like An Outcast'

Suni Lee, the first Asian-American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, has shared her struggles with recent health issues, depression, and immense pressure.

Not only has she battled an unspecified kidney condition, but she also battled with eczema, known as atopic dermatitis, a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by itchy, red, and dry skin.

The 21-year-old won all-around Gold at the Tokyo Olympics, but in the months following, things took a turn as Suni Lee struggled with post-gold depression.

While many athletes dream of taking home the Gold at the Olympics, sometimes it isn't all they hoped it would be.

“You expect it to be this huge life-changing moment,” Ryan Crouser, who won gold in shot put in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo five years later, said per Sports Illustrated. “And it is. But you spent years and years and years putting that moment on this pedestal."

"It’s especially difficult because everyone expects you to be, like, up here," he said as he raised his hand, indicating that Olympians must be above everywhere else and that the public has high expectations.

"But from a neurological standpoint,” he said. "You’ve just had the biggest dopamine hit of your entire life, winning the Olympics, standing on the podium."

Ryan added, "And you’re going through a massive, massive dopamine withdrawal. So you think you should be happy, and everyone around you says you should be, but your brain has no dopamine. And you’re way down here”—he lowers his hand to his waist—“and you just feel bad.”

As someone who has been in the spotlight at a young age, Suni Lee missed out on "normal" college years. She even decided that she may have to hire security to attend classes in person, which caused a lot of unwanted attention from her classmates.

At one point, she said the attention escalated to stalking, and she "felt like an outcast" having to deal with something so traumatic and not having anyone to confide in.

“A lot of the girls [on my team] weren’t the nicest to me,” she told the outlet. “I just really felt like an outcast, almost. They didn’t treat me that well. I just knew that I couldn’t trust them.”

Auburn coach Jeff Graba opened up about the attention the gymnast drew after becoming a high-profile Olympian.

“Having someone of [Lee’s] stature and the attention that came with it was a learning experience for everyone,” he said. "We had a lot of success, and I believe that happened because the team worked together, grew and handled the entire situation with dignity, grace and comradery.”

Once an athlete takes home the Gold medal, how do they move on? How do they live up to the expectations from the public and their teammates? This is something Lee struggled with when returning to college following the Tokyo Olympics.

Lee admitted that she felt as though everyone expected her to produce a perfect 10 in every college event, which put her under tremendous pressure. “Everybody just thinks since you’re the gold medalist, you never make mistakes,” Jess Graba, Jeff's twin brother, said.

While winning Gold seems like the dream, the months following can be extremely difficult for athletes. Think about it -- at best, all the athletes can do is match what they already did. At worst, they fall short, which happens more often than not.

In fact, according to SI, 72.3% of Olympic gold medalists in history retired after their achievements.

In 2023, Sun Lee shocked the world when she announced she was retiring from college gymnastics due to a health battle.

“I have been dealing with a non-gymnastics health-related issue involving my kidneys. For my safety, the medical team did not clear me to train and compete over the last few weeks,” she said, per TODAY, at the time. “I am blessed and thankful to be working with the best specialized medical team to treat and manage my diagnosis. My focus at this time is my health and recovery.”

After months of recovery and returning to training, Suni Lee is now gearing up for the 2024 Paris Olympics Trials.