Olympic Medalist Suni Lee Inspires Hmong Community In Green Country

The gymnastics portion of the Paris Olympics has wrapped up, with USA Gymnastics taking home 10 medals this year.

Suni Lee now has six medals in her Olympic career, making her the most decorated Asian American gymnast in the competition.

News On 6 talked to some Asian Americans around Green Country about how the star athlete is inspiring them.

Tulsa Gymnastics Academy has a few athletes who are of Hmong heritage, like Suni.

They said representation matters, and Suni inspires them to compete at the highest level.

News On 6 met 8-year-old Ava Vue and 9-year-old Emerymae Vang as they showed off their skills at Tulsa Gymnastics Academy.

“I like gymnastics because I can do the flips, the moves, and I can challenge myself on hard stuff on the floor, beam, vault,” said Emerymae.

The girls have big dreams and look up to Suni, who is a Hmong–American like them.

“She’s presenting our culture, and she’s in the Olympics, so I think that I may be could be in the Olympics too,” said Ava.

“My biggest dream is to be in the Olympics just like Sunisa Lee,” said Emerymae.

Their parents watch with pride, similar to Suni’s parents while reflecting on how far their people have come, with many of them leaving Asia to escape violence and poverty.

The girls’ parents said Suni’s success comes from hard work, something they hope their kids will follow.

“There are days she feels like she can’t do it, but I tell her Suni went through a little incident where she, with health issues, and look she’s even better now,” said Judy Vang, Ava’s mom.

“She definitely put Hmong people on the map and now we have someone that everyone can look forward to, and I believe that she’ll inspire many others to come after,” said Alex Vang, Emerymae’s dad.

Ava and Emerymae said they have a great role model and support system to help them go for gold one day.

“Practice hard, like really focus,” said Ava. “Push yourself. Do hard things.”

“Focus on everything,” said Emerymae.

The head coach of Tulsa Gymnastics Academy, Bailee Brazerol, is from Suni’s home state of Minnesota and met the gymnast before she became a household name.

Brazerol said it is awesome to have her students look up to Suni.

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