Sunisa "Suni" Lee took home more than a gold medal after her Olympics gymnastics women's all-around win on Thursday, July 29.
After her victory, the 18-year-old Minnesota athlete told NBC Sports, "I'm gonna go eat a pizza, like that's all I've been craving this whole time." And believe it or not, that's exactly what she did. Suni celebrated her incredible accomplishment by dancing around wearing her gold medal necklace in her hotel room in a TikTok video. Spotted prominently in the clip was a box of pizza, which was exactly what the Olympic champion ordered.
She captioned her TikTok, "on top of the world rn" and we can only imagine how elated the gymnast is.
"It feels amazing, it's just a dream come true," the star told Today's Hoda Kotb. But even though she was over-the-moon following her first place status, leading up to it was another story. "If I'm being honest, I did not sleep very good last night," she said. "I was just so excited, there was so much going through [my] head. I still can't wrap it around my head."
Before the event, Suni's nerves had yet to subside. She explained how she tried to calm down, "I was just telling myself to do nothing more and nothing less, and just telling myself to breathe because in that moment I literally felt like I was going to puke, I was so nervous."
"My normal is good enough, so I don't do anything more or anything less, I just have to do what I normally do," the athlete said.
She also acknowledged how it takes a village to become an Olympic champion, thanking her Hmong American community in her home state: "They sacrificed a lot for me, they support me so much," the Olympian shared. "They also have fundraisers, and they're willing to give anything. If we ever need anything they're just so supportive of my whole family."
And after the Games, Suni's heading off to Auburn University.
"I'll get to be a college athlete, doing school stuff and going to classes," she told USA Today. "It'll be fun staying in the dorms, getting away from gymnastics and just having a little bit more free time than I normally would."
The champion continued, "Which is something I'm super excited about because I've spent so much time in the gym that it's just nice to have this little break."
And it's definitely well-deserved. Congratulations, Suni!