AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) Following the departure of Simone Biles in the first rotation of Tuesday’s team competition, rising Auburn freshman gymnast Sunisa Lee and the rest of Team USA had their work cutout for them in Tokyo. The group rose to the occasion, taking home the silver medal.
After Biles’ departure, Lee lead the U.S. charge on the uneven bars, posting numbers sufficient to cut into the Russian Olympic Committee’s lead ahead of the final rotation. The emerging star followed the impressive performance with a 14.133 on the beam, the second best score in the discipline all day.
From there, the future Tiger showed the ability to perform under pressure, stepping into the anchor role for the U.S. floor rotation. Lee posted a score of 13.666 and — in turn — solidified the silver medal for her team.
Auburn head coach Jeff Graba was proud of his athlete.
"I'm extremely proud of Suni and how she stepped in during really difficult situation," Graba said. "She hit all her events and even hit her big floor routine without any warmups. Having to go last for Team USA without much preparation is huge. She definitely showed her heart tonight!"
Lee returns to Olympic competition in the women’s individual all-around on Thursday at 5:50 a.m. CT.
