Saint Paul’s Suni Lee Exceeds Gold Medal Promise Made to Former Teacher

Jul 1

Game 7 of the World Series or Stanley Cup Final. Final group at The Masters. Olympic gold medal. Who among us didn’t stand in the driveway or gym preparing ourselves?

Very few can follow through on that. But in 2021, Saint Paul’s own Suni Lee made good on a promise made to her Battle Creek Elementary School physical education teacher, Scott Richards. Mr. Richards got a front row seat back then when she said she’d win an Olympic gold medal. For Friday’s preliminaries at Target Center, he had a seat as “Sunisa” began her successful push for a second Olympic team.

“Sunisa predicted a gold medal,” Richards said Monday. “But she never predicted being a two-time Olympian. She’s far exceeded her own goals.”

“I still remember the day. She was in third grade and we were down in the science lab,” Richards continued. “She was so serious when she said it, honest to God. I’ve been sharing that story with family and friends since then.”

Richards is retired now, although he still works as a substitute gym teacher in St. Paul. He qualifies as a Suni super fan, wearing his autographed Auburn hat wherever he goes.

“(Target Center) was packed,” Richards said. “The competition is so stiff. There’s not a girl in the trials that wouldn’t represent Team USA really well. Very few mistakes were made, and when they make a mistake like Sunisa made on the beam, she does that much better on the floor to make up for it.”

It’s been quite the comeback for Suni, the first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist. She suffered from a debilitating kidney illness for the last 18 months. For a time, she was told she’d never compete as a high-level gymnast again.

“She hasn’t even been doing full competitions,” Richards said. “She was kind of like a part timer. To raise to that level in those conditions, and against that competition, is amazing. That’s what worried me the most was the competition was stepping up. None of those athletes were going to give it to Suni because she’s Suni. They were trying to take her spot.”

Perform at a high level she did. Friday in preliminaries, she watched her best friend and roommate Kayle DiCello suffer an excruciating Achilles injury to start the competition before her first vault. Fighting back tears, Suni’s vault wasn’t her best but she excelled the rest of the night and finished third heading into the finals.

“What I noticed was that she’s the mother bee down there,” said Richards, who was scoping things out with his binoculars. “They don’t show it on TV, she’s going around and interacting with every single teammate. She’s keeping people calm.”

Sunday night she started slow again, with a fall off the balance beam (Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles also fell), but cemented her place in Paris with an uneven bar for the ages, flashing her trademark smile on her stuck landing.

Some 30 minutes after the competition ended, Suni flashed that smile again, looking somewhat relieved she’d made the 2024 Olympic team. “There were so many times I thought about quitting,” she said after. “I didn’t think I could get back to this point…I’ve been constantly surrounded by people who never let me give up,” Lee said. “I’m so thankful because a year ago I didn’t even think this was possible.”

But she may be the only one who had doubts. Because those who have been around her, including “Mr. Richards”, knew she would be.

“That’s an accomplishment,” he said. “To me, the biggest accomplishment. A year and a half ago, people were counting her out. And I’m sure she was feeling the same. The level she had to be in 12 months later, she was probably looking at a pretty steep hill to climb. She put her mind to it. Her coaches, her doctors, what a feat.”

Richards also remarked what a different path Suni has taken to get there. While most high level gymnasts move to Texas to train for the Olympics, she has mostly kept the same coach and gymnastics club - her humble roots - since she was in elementary school.

“How about you start at a club and you stay there your entire career, with the same people,” he said. “Never once think about going to that training center because the competition is better.”