“Would like visualize myself competing at the Olympics” – Gold-medalist Sunisa Lee sheds light on her Olympics journey

“Would like visualize myself competing at the Olympics” – Gold-medalist Sunisa Lee sheds light on her Olympics journey

Sunisa Lee

Ace US gymnast Sunisa Lee has recently talked about her glorious stint at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics. The teen sensation clinched three medals at the Games – Gold in all-around, silver in team and bronze in uneven bars events. 

However, things didn’t come easy in her way as she had a terrible ankle injury just after the lockdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic. In a recent conversation at the Pretty Little Thing, Lee shed light on her mental and physical preparation ahead of the much-awaited tournament. 

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“I had to do a lot of mental visualization and mental choreography, talking to myself, going through my routines. Like, before I go to sleep, I would visualize my routines probably like two times and I’d say the words to myself every single time, and then I would like to visualize myself competing at the Olympics,” Suni stated. 

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“Pandemic messed with my mental health”

Sunisa Lee
Sunisa Lee

A lot of athletes across the globe came across mental breakdowns or some other similar issues in the last couple of years. The USA gymnast also talked about her story of messy mental health after being stuck in her room for a really long time. However, she also mentioned the plus points after being able to spend time with her family, more than ever.

“The pandemic definitely messed with my mental health, because I was stuck in my room, but I think there were definitely some upsides to it and some downsides. Like, I got to spend a lot of time with my family, which I didn’t ever really get to spend. I have probably spent more time with my coach than I have with my family. So that was good because we got to bond a little bit. 

It was just hard because I had to do Zoom workouts. And there was nothing else I could do except lie in bed, so I think that was just super difficult for me, and probably everybody else,” she added.

Also Read | Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee Named Among 2021 TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World