Suni Lee Is Starting College at Auburn University

tokyo, japan july 29 sunisa lee of team united states reacts after competing on uneven bars during the womens all around final on day six of the tokyo 2020 olympic games at ariake gymnastics centre on july 29, 2021 in tokyo, japan photo by jamie squiregetty images

(Image credit: Jamie Squire)

published 16 August 2021

Olympic gymnast Sunisa "Suni" Lee arrived at Auburn University in Alabama last week, with classes beginning from Aug. 16. The athlete will swap out her Team USA gear to compete alongside the Auburn Tigers as a freshman.

Lee posted a photo of herself on campus on Instagram, in which she's wearing a blue Auburn t-shirt and smiling at the camera. She captioned the post, "war eagle," which is the school's battle cry, according to Auburn's official website. Clearly, the gymnast is already feeling the school pride. The ever-supportive Simone Biles commented, "wahooooooo!!!!!!"

A post shared by Sunisa Lee (@sunisalee)
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Speaking to the Auburn Tigers website, Lee said, "Right now, rest is the main focus because at the Olympics I was a little bit beat up. Coming here, I was hoping to let my body rest, and mentally as well, because that does take a lot out of me. I just want to focus on myself and getting ready for the season. I have a really good team behind me. I'm excited for everything that's going to be coming in the future."

She added, "It's amazing how everyone here has been so supportive and so welcoming about me coming here. I know it's crazy to have an Olympic gold medalist come but I'm excited because I feel like everybody here is so nice and the atmosphere is way different than I thought it would be."

Lee had previously said that she would bring her Olympic medals—a gold, a silver and a bronze—with her to college, according to USA Today columnist Nancy Armour. "I don’t want to lose them," she apparently said. "Or have anything happen to them. I’ll probably take my worlds medals, too." Look, fair enough.

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.