PARIS — Suni Lee is three-for-three at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lee won her second consecutive Olympic bronze medal on uneven bars Sunday, adding to the gold she won with the U.S. women in the team final and her bronze in the all-around final. She has a chance to add one more Monday, when she competes in the balance beam final.
Kaylia Nemour, 17, won gold, giving Africa its first medal in women’s gymnastics. Qiu Qiyuan of China was the silver medalist.
Lee was the last to go, and the only flaw in her routine was a slight step on her dismount. She looked happy with the routine and, when the score of 14.8 was announced, her jaw dropped. That put her just slightly ahead of Nina Derwael, the Tokyo Olympic champion.
Just making the podium was an achievement in this uneven bars final, which looked more like a heavyweight fight. It featured the reigning Olympic, world and European champions, and everyone brought their best. Qiu, who won the world title last year, was first up of the top contenders and did a gorgeous routines. Her pirouettes on the high bar would make ballerinas jealous, and she looked like a statue as she held perfectly still on her handstands.
She was beaming when she finished, and cried when her score of 15.5 was announced.
Nemour was waiting to go when the score for Qiu was announced. But if it flustered, she didn’t show. Her routine is jam-packed with difficulty — her 7.2 difficulty score is one of the few in the women’s competition above 7, and she added a tenth from qualifying — but she made it look effortless. She flits from bar to bar like a hummingbird and landed without a wiggle.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA’s Suni Lee wins bronze in uneven bars final at Olympics
