Photos: Suni Lee wins gymnastics gold
US gymnast Sunisa "Suni" Lee competes on the balance beam during the individual all-around final on Thursday, July 29.
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In pictures: Suni Lee wins gymnastics gold

Updated 2022 GMT (0422 HKT) July 29, 2021

US gymnast Sunisa "Suni" Lee competes on the balance beam during the individual all-around final on Thursday, July 29.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images

We have a new Olympic champion in women's gymnastics.

Sunisa "Suni" Lee won the individual all-around on Thursday, becoming the fifth straight American to win the event going back to the 2004 Olympics. Lee, the first Hmong-American to compete as an Olympic gymnast, scored high on the uneven bars and balance beam and finished with a strong performance in the floor exercise.

Brazil's Rebeca Andrade won the silver, and Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova won the bronze.

The defending Olympic champion, Simone Biles, did not compete this time around. She pulled out of the event this week, citing mental-health concerns. She was in the stands, however, to cheer on teammates Lee and Jade Carey.

This is the second medal of these Olympics for the 18-year-old Lee, who also won a silver in the team all-around on Tuesday.

"This is such a surreal moment," she said in a news conference after her victory. "I just feel like I could have never been here ever. It doesn't even feel like real life."

Lee is congratulated by teammate Jade Carey after winning the gold.
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Lee takes a selfie with silver medalist Rebeca Andrade, center, and bronze medalist Angelina Melnikova. Andrade is the first Brazilian to ever medal in women's gymnastics. Melnikova is Russian.
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Lee started her day on the vault, where she put up the field's fifth-best score.
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An overhead shot of Lee on the uneven bars.
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Lee celebrates after her performance on the uneven bars. Lee had the best score on that apparatus.
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Lee soars in the air during the uneven bars.
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Lee talks to her teammate Jade Carey during the competition. Carey finished in eighth place.
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Lee performs on the balance beam during the third rotation. She put up the field's second-best score on the beam.
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Lee was in first place heading to the floor exercise on the final rotation.
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Lee put up the field's fifth-best score on the floor exercise, and it was enough to hold onto the lead.
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Lee congratulates Brazil's Rebeca Andrade after the floor exercise. Andrade had a chance to overtake Lee at the end, but she stepped out of bounds twice during her floor routine.
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Lee twists in the air during her floor exercise routine.
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From left, US gymnasts Grace McCallum, Jordan Chiles, Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner cheer for Lee after her gold-medal performance. Biles, the defending champion, withdrew from the event because of mental-health concerns. Correction: This caption has been updated to include Grace McCallum, who was previously misidentified by Getty Images.
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Lee hugs Jade Carey after it was clear she had won gold.
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Shyenne Lee, Lee's sister, celebrates at a watch party in Oakdale, Minnesota.
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Lee, 18, is the first Hmong-American to compete as an Olympic gymnast.
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Lee's parents, Yeev Thoj and John Lee, react while watching their daughter from Oakdale, Minnesota. In 2019, John Lee suffered an accident that left him paralyzed.
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Lee poses with her gold medal on the podium.
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