There was a time not long ago when Suni Lee’s gymnastics future looked uncertain, if not entirely out of reach. At the 2025 ESPY Awards, that uncertainty was nowhere in sight. Standing under the lights in Los Angeles, Lee offered just four words on social media that spoke volumes. The statement, informal yet unmistakably heartfelt, followed her win for Best Comeback. An honor that now sits beside her three Olympic medals earned in Paris just months earlier.
In early 2023, Lee stepped away from her collegiate gymnastics career at Auburn University. The announcement, at the time, left fans puzzled. Soon after, the reason became clear. She was battling a serious kidney condition, one that caused unexplained swelling in her legs, hands, and face. Doctors ruled out temporary causes. The symptoms persisted. It became evident that this was not a passing ailment but a long-term medical fight. And for an elite athlete already carrying Olympic pressure, the toll was significant. She would spend the next year in and out of hospitals, under constant care and ongoing evaluation.
That journey reached a public milestone this week when Lee accepted the ESPY for Best Comeback. And quite expectedly, Lee was overwhelmed. Taking to X, Lee wrote, “this is a dreammmm.” The award recognized more than her return to competition. It honored her resolve. “Parents, thank you for never stopping believing in me,” she said, speaking with calm pride. Her voice turned tender as she acknowledged the person seated in the audience who had helped her through the hardest phase. “And to Dr. Marcia Faustin, she’s actually here in the crowd with me today. Thank you for guiding me through the toughest moments, reading every scan and report by my side.” Lee’s remarks carried the weight of someone who had seen the inside of hospitals and returned to the podium. “And Allie and Jess, my coaches who never gave up, even when things looked impossible. I’m so proud we never took no for an answer. From hospital beds to three Olympic medals in Paris, this is proof that no setback can stop you if you don’t stop fighting,” Lee further added. Her story, told with clarity and little embellishment, drew no theatrical emotion.
Suni Lee shouted out her doctor after she won Best Comeback award at the ESPYS pic.twitter.com/WavCpP51S6
— espnW (@espnW) July 17, 2025
Instead, she remained measured. Focused on those who helped sustain her during a year most athletes would struggle to imagine. The gratitude extended beyond her inner circle. Her final words on stage carried a message not just for fans, but perhaps for herself, looking back at the months behind her. “I just have to say, never ever underestimate a girl who is determined to prove her worth to herself. Thank you.” For someone whose career began under the glare of Olympic pressure and personal loss, Lee’s comeback was not framed in grandeur but in quiet determination. And the people who believed she still had something left to give. In fact, Lee did bring her kidney doctor to the ESPYS as her date!
Suni Lee walks the ESPYs red carpet with the woman who saved her dream
It was not a stylist who turned heads on Suni Lee’s arm at the 2025 ESPY Awards, nor a fellow athlete or celebrity. Instead, the Olympic gymnast arrived at the event beside the woman who stood by her during one of the most uncertain chapters of her life. Her kidney doctor. The choice was not a gesture for the cameras, nor was it a publicity maneuver. It was a deliberate expression of gratitude to the physician who quietly, persistently encouraged her to keep fighting when the idea of another gymnastics meet, let alone the Olympic stage, seemed impossible.
Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Women’s Balance Beam Final – Bercy Arena, Paris, France – August 05, 2024. Sunisa Lee of United States looks on. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
“I’m so excited,” Lee told ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi and Elle Duncan during the broadcast. “It’s her first time on a red carpet. So it’s really fun for the both of us. But she was the one person who actually believed in me whenever I was going through everything.” Lee did not elaborate on the technical aspects of her condition, but her tone left little doubt about the emotional weight of the ordeal. Her remarks drew a clear line between the medical prognosis she once received and the reality she has since reshaped with determined effort.
“There were so many times where I wanted to quit gymnastics,” Lee said later in the interview. “Having a doctor, quite literally, tell you that you’re never going to be able to do this again, it’s kind of like—it’s very heartbreaking,” said Lee. Her pause after that admission was telling. As she stood beside the woman who never echoed that bleak forecast, the moment on the red carpet became less about Hollywood flash and more about quiet acknowledgment: of pain endured, of support offered, and of the resolve that bridged the two.
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