After reaching the highest point in gymnastics, Suni Lee had the chance to train almost anywhere in the world. The Olympic champion decided to return to the place where her journey began. With less than two years remaining before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Lee has officially returned to Midwest Gymnastics Center in Little Canada, Minnesota, as she begins her push for a third Olympic appearance- the LA 28 Olympics.

For Lee, the decision was never complicated. She knew exactly where she wanted to prepare for another Olympic run: the gym that helped transform her from a young gymnast with a dream into one of the best athletes in the world. “Allie and Jess are like my parents,” Lee said in an interview with KARE 11 on July 20.

Jess Graba has coached Lee since she was just 6 years old at that same place. Alongside his wife, Alison, he has been part of nearly every major chapter of Lee’s gymnastics journey, supporting her long before she became an Olympic champion. Under Graba’s guidance, Lee grew into an elite gymnast and began making her mark on the international stage.

A big part of her success came when she reached the World Championships in 2019. Lee helped Team USA take gold in the team competition with Jess and won silver in the floor exercise and bronze in the uneven bars. There was another significant milestone in the Tokyo Olympics of 2021 shortly thereafter.

Lee did what many gymnasts dream of. She competed in the Olympics and earned 3 medals. But the medals weren’t the only thing that characterized their journey. Lee and Graba also faced some of the toughest moments of her career together.

In early 2023, Lee was diagnosed with a kidney condition that forced her to step away from gymnastics and put her future in the sport in doubt. Then in early 2024, she came back, which led her to the Paris Olympics.

After Paris, Lee took a two-year break to focus on herself and decide what she wanted for the future. But after months of reflection, she realized she still wanted another Olympic opportunity. When she made the decision to chase Los Angeles 2028, she returned to the people she trusted most. “We’ve been through so much together,” Lee said. “I honestly couldn’t see myself with anybody else, and I wouldn’t want to do this process with anybody else, especially for L.A.”

For Lee, Midwest Gymnastics Center is more than just a training facility. It is the place where she grew up, where people believed in her before the world knew her name, and where she feels supported. “I love getting to come back and seeing all of the little kids and all of them running up to me,” Lee said. Now, as Lee begins another Olympic journey, she is surrounded by the same coaches who helped guide her from a young gymnast in Minnesota to an Olympic champion.

But as Suni Lee begins her journey toward the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, she has one unfinished goal left.

Suni Lee chases unfinished Olympic dream

Lee has been to two Olympic Games before. But one accomplishment has eluded her so far: an Olympic medal in the balance beam. Lee competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she took 5th place in the balance beam final. Three years later at the Paris 2024 Olympics, she got even closer. After a strong Olympic campaign that saw her win team gold, all-around bronze and uneven bars bronze medals, Lee entered the beam final with a chance to add another medal.

She started her routine confidently, but during a tumbling series, she lost her balance and fell from the beam. She finished sixth with a score of 13.100. For Lee, it was a painful moment because the beam has always been one of her strongest events. “She felt like she was a medalist on beam, and we didn’t get one,” Jess Graba said. “So I think she’d like to rectify that.”

Now, as she prepares for Los Angeles 2028, Lee hopes to finally complete that missing piece of her Olympic story by standing on the podium in the balance beam final. But Lee’s connection with Graba has never been only about medals. Throughout her career, he has been one of her biggest sources of emotional support. At the 2023 Core Hydration Classic, Lee returned to elite competition for the first time after dealing with kidney-related health issues.

Knowing the pressure she was under, Graba chose not to tell her the exact score she needed to qualify. Instead, he focused on helping her feel comfortable and reminding her to trust herself.  “He’s basically like my dad and we’re super, super close. He’s always been there throughout the whole journey,” Lee said.

After everything they have experienced together, from childhood training sessions to Olympic victories and moments when her career was in doubt, walking away from that bond was never an option for Lee.