That makes two! Suni Lee will join fellow Olympic champion Gabby Douglas at Winter Cup
The Winter Cup will have a golden hue.
Reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee is registered for the meet later this month, USA Gymnastics announced Monday night. That makes two Olympic gold medalists in the field, with London all-around champion Gabby Douglas confirming last week she will compete for the first time in almost eight years at the Feb. 24 meet in Louisville, Kentucky.
Simone Biles, the Rio Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion, is not expected to start her season until later this year, likely at the U.S. Classic in May.
Lee hasn't competed since the national championships last August, opting not to participate in the selection camp for the world championships team the following month. Though she didn't say why, Lee's training was limited much of last year because of a kidney issue that forced her to end her last NCAA season early.
Lee's longtime coach, Jess Graba, said at nationals that her training schedule depended on how she was reacting that day to the medication she was taking.
"She's training pretty good when we can train," Graba said then. "It's more of a balancing act. They're still monkeying with the medication to try to get it so she reacts the same way each day. As they're adjusting the medication, then some days aren't very good so we have to adjust our training and sometimes we don't train that day."
But Lee has been posting clips of herself in training, and she participated in the most recent national team training camp that wrapped up a week ago. It was her first time at camp since nationals.
After winning gold in Tokyo, Lee opted to go to Auburn and compete there for two years. She left after her sophomore season, saying she wanted to concentrate on training for the Paris Olympics.