“I know that Sunisa will be judged by certain eyes in the Hmong American Community because her man is Black. LOVE is LOVE, no matter what race or gender you are. Keep doing you QUEEN,” alixvangphom captioned the video.

Suni expressed her gratitude in the comments section, saying, “This makes me so happy. I’ve received so much hate. They support me when it’s beneficial for them, never when it comes to my happiness. Thank you!”

Support for Jaylin and Suni’s interracial relationship also poured in from other social media users. “This is so sad,” one person tweeted in reaction to the news of the racial backlash. Another shared, “How sad is this, wow.”

A third user commented, “No one can tell you who to love. The heart knows.” A fourth added, “People who judge others based on their skin show how insecure they are in their own.” TMZ later reported that Suni shared that haters would continue to be banned from commenting on pics of her boyfriend.

This wasn’t Suni’s first encounter with racism. In November 2021, she recounted an incident to PopSugar where she was allegedly pepper-sprayed in a racist drive-by attack in Los Angeles.

Suni explained that a group of people in a car yelled racist slurs at her and her friends — all of Asian heritage — telling them to “go back to where they came from.” One of the passengers then allegedly sprayed Suni’s arm with pepper spray.

At that moment, Suni felt intense anger but was powerless to act as the attackers sped away. She reflected on how difficult it was to maintain her reputation and avoid trouble, choosing not to retaliate despite doing nothing to provoke the incident.

Suni has remained outspoken about her role as a barrier-breaker, especially for the Hmong community. “Just [to] be an inspiration to other Hmong people [means] a lot to me too,” she said.

Health Challenges and Family Support: Suni Lee’s Return to the Olympics

Despite her previous trials and tribulations, Suni has persevered. Following an impressive performance by Team USA at the July 28 qualifying rounds, Suni earned her spot in the finals.

She will be representing the country on bars, beam, floor, and the all-around competition for the second time. Less than a year after her significant victory in Tokyo, Suni announced her intention to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

However, her path to the Paris Olympics became more complicated when she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable kidney disease in 2023. In February 2023, Suni began experiencing abnormal swelling in her ankles, face, hands, and legs.

Initially suspecting an allergic reaction, her doctors ruled it out when the swelling persisted after two weeks, accompanied by a sudden weight gain of around 40 pounds. After several rounds of tests, they discovered that she had not one, but two forms of kidney disease.

With the discoveries regarding her health, Suni faced an uncertain future in gymnastics. While chatting with E! News in March 2024, Suni revealed that her kidney disease forced her to take a break for a few months, which significantly weakened her.

Once she received medical clearance to resume training, she had to modify her workouts and incorporate physical therapy. At the Team USA Media Summit in April 2024, Suni mentioned that her coaches had never dealt with an athlete facing two forms of kidney disease before.

She admitted that she didn’t know any other gymnasts who had experienced this. This made her situation a learning process for everyone involved, requiring them to take it one day at a time. However, Suni’s determination never wavered.

The gymnast eventually received the green light from her doctors to reduce the amount of medication she was on. This ignited a fire in Suni to aim for a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

With an unyielding spirit, Suni returned to training, aiming to secure her place on Team USA once again. At the Team USA Media Summit, she said her condition was in remission and that she was almost back to her normal training schedule.