Suni Lee Thread; latest: confirms one more season at Auburn and then Olympic bid

[IratePanda]

I’m also in post-secondary education, at a state school with students who probably don’t belong in a four-year institution.

Suni commited to Auburn long before NIL, long before the Olympics seemed like a realistic goal. Now collegiate gymnasts can do what football players have been doing for decades. Let Suni do Suni, without judgment.

 

[dweiss324]

The way I see it, there are boatloads of gymnasts who have skated through college with no career direction or gotten a bogus degree just to be on a good ncaa team, or taken an extra year for no real reason but to keep doing gymnastics. Suni’s literally just doing the same thing, except that her doing gymnastics means Olympics, not ncaa. And… so much has changed for her in the last couple years, it’d be ridiculous for her to follow a normal predetermined plan.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Same, I use comeback because that’s the term that was used in the podcast. That said, I’m not sure if she is coming back for 2022 Nationals? I haven’t watched it all but the bit I saw was about the Olympics. I actually hope she doesn’t return to elite this year, rather she had some rest and decreased the risk of burnout. Especially if she plans on doing another collegiate season. They seemed to leave that open, though presumably this is her essentially announcing she’s not going to be at Auburn in the 2023-4 academic year.

 

[QuietColours]

I appreciate the timing/tone of the announcement weren’t the best, but Suni’s college experience so far honestly sounds miserable to me. She has to take all online classes and had to stop attending school events because she is constantly called out, made an issue of, harassed by the people around her. She has to have a security detail. If that had been my freshman year experience at college, I wouldn’t have wanted to keep going either. Especially considering all the other opportunities she has, with a limited amount of time to capitalize on them.

College isn’t for everyone, and college right after high school isn’t for everyone. The announcement can (and probably should) have been done more professionally, but I give props to her for coming, trying it, finding it wasn’t working, and deciding she should be doing something else right now. She can always go back and get a degree in a few years if that’s what makes sense in her liife–that’s the awesome thing about education. It’s never too late.

 

[Sasha]

Oh yeah, I could completely understand not wanting to continue under her particular circumstances. Beyond what you mentioned, she’s also got the pressure of being the team’s star, the scrutiny of being THE local celebrity not only on campus but in the whole town, and the time pressure of keeping up with all her various academic, team, and endorsement obligations. Honestly in her position I’d have cracked already. It sounds kind of terrible.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Absolutely, Suni didn’t say she was never going to get a degree. She said she didn’t intend to finish at Auburn if she makes Paris, and some people conflated the two. I’m not saying she will or she won’t, or that she should, I have no idea. But what she actually said leaves open a lot of possibilities. If she were planning to spend a decade focusing solely on the joys of academia after Paris, the things she said in the podcast could all apply just as well as they could to her doing no more education after that.

 

[jezmerallia]

Honestly, Jeff Graba’s “iron sharpens iron” philosophy sounds suspiciously like the sort of non-stop pressure national team members experienced under Marta. I can’t help but wonder if she would be happier in a less stressful training environment. I didn’t know about the constant harassment she was facing on campus but it sounds like she has stress in all areas of her life. I really feel for her.

 

[KristyJ]

Is this the same podcast you’re quoting from? I watched it and it didn’t have most of that stuff in there. Also they did a weird fake house robbery at the end? This podcast was really weird, with very little substance. The main concerning thing I noted was Suni’s recounting of being pepper sprayed by racists in LA.

 

[cuuf]

Really starting to dislike and not respect Suni. She needs someone with authority in her life to knock her straight. And it seems like she is surrounded by a bunch of enablers which allows her to act this way. If I was Auburn, I would kick her off the team. She either made a commitment or not. I cant believe they have allowed her to act this way the whole year. I don’t want to hear, “Oh she gets so much attention just going out on campus, poor thing” or “well all the college gymnasts just major in basket weaving just to do gymnastics”. No and No! She is not some innocent 12 yo unknowingly thrust into this new and scary situation. She is someone who has millions of followers, has travelled extensively, meet with dignitaries, interviewed countless times. She knows whats up. And she know what was up when she was going to go to Aubhurn. Just like training, you make that commitment knowing the costs you are going to have to pay. Staying on campus, taking classes, committing for 4 years of study. And this argument about well everyone does it is such a straw-man. The vast majority of college gymnasts attend classes, live on campus and actively pursue degrees. Only a handful might just go to college to compete. Suni is the exception rather the rule. Its disrespectful and not in the spirit of fairness to all the other gymnasts who work and strive by following the rules and trying to do right by their commitment to just allow her to shred it up and do what she wants. Sorry, I don’t like this path for her and I will hope she is not successful.

 

[RedBirdie]

Please, the powers that be at Auburn are loving all the attention that comes with having Suni at their school. And for decades, NCAA and university athletic departments have demanded absolute loyalty for athletes while showing none in return, raking in huge sums of cash because of these athletes who were absolutely prohibited from doing the same. No, I don’t mind at all that Suni is using NCAA to advance herself and her own goals.

I do wonder if perhaps Auburn is just not the right fit for Suni. She was only 14 when she committed, and how much she looked at other options given the Midwest-Auburn coaching connection. Or maybe a year off would have been the right decision in retrospect.

 

[dco1987]

Long time since I’ve posted- just lurk most of the time. A WWGYM head.

Suni was never “supposed” to win AA at the Olympics. Or at least not the way she did.

She ended up the face of the Olympic Womens gym and I don’t think she was prepared for all the scrutiny that came with it- as well as all the press freebies: DWTS etc.

She was meant to go to college but in a different way. The pressure she must feel is probably immense. Her plan changed. She wanted to be bars champion and even said she got distracted before finals. Just my thoughts- unfinished business like Alicia. Yes, she is the AA Queen. But if Biles hadn’t had the experience she did a things could be quite different. The ripple effect on Suni- pressure she never anticipated,- I don’t know. I just think she wants to finish what she started- bars champion. College isn’t going the way it was planned in her head.

Meh, just my rambling. Hello all :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

 

[cuuf]

And yet, there she is doing dancing with the stars, podcasts, interviews, etc. I do somewhat feel for her and how I am fairly certain most folks around her are just looking to benefit off her. But at the same time she is not completely an innocent actor. She can say no. That’s why I think she would benefit with an authoritative figure giving a firm guiding hand for her. Certainly seems like she is just winging it herself.

 

[Doug1233]

I pretty much disagree with everything here. It’s her life, she can do what she wants. Loads of people drop out of college to do other things. And it’s not “unfair” to anyone. Line ups aren’t charity. Be better than Suni if you want her spot in the line up.

 

[cuuf]

I think you are missing the point here

 

[rlayt]

It’s Suni’s life and she can live it however she wants. Committing to NCAA doesn’t mean your life won’t change and other things won’t take precedence after that commitment.

I don’t remember…did Skinner get berated for leaving NCAA to pursue her dreams. Nobody criticizes the men for doing both. I guess there’s a bit of tall poppy syndrome going on.

 

[cuuf]

Of course she can do what she wants, this is a free country. But we also generally respect norms, understand that actions have consequences and don’t expect a wide disparity of special treatment for people in our society. Skinner attended college and graduating with a degree with intention of using it. People can choose to leave a job, but still give 2 weeks+ notice.

All I am saying is the special treatment that Suni is getting is wrong, she should be given a strong choice that she either commits or not.

 

[MaryClare]

Wow, I thought we were past the policing of how a gymnast should behave. Why does she need to be grateful or humble?

 

[irichluck21]

Honestly, Jeff Graba’s “iron sharpens iron” philosophy sounds suspiciously like the sort of non-stop pressure national team members experienced under Marta. I can’t help but wonder if she would be happier in a less stressful training environment

It wouldn’t be different anywhere else. Nearly every top team uses the same philosophy now.
Teams are not finalizing line ups until after warm ups. Coaches will warm up 7-9 gymnasts on an event. The best looking 6 at warm ups make the line up.
We saw this play out yesterday by Oklahoma, after a vault stumble from Levasseur KJ pulled Fletcher from the line up because she had fallen (on her 1 .5) in one touch and put in Davis with her FTY instead because they didn’t want to risk counting a 9.650 had Fletcher fallen.
Alabama also used this tactic, putting in Gaskins instead of Adams as the bars lead off because Gaskins had a better warm up.

 

[irichluck21]

I think you are missing the point here

You are the one missing the point.

You want Suni to act a certain way, but you have completely rewritten her collegiate narrative.
Suni is the first Olympic All Around champion to compete in the NCAA. She is also the first Asian to win the Olympic All Around.

This is a completely new era of NCAA athletics, NOT just at the gymnastics level, but all over.
With the elimination of being completely amateur due to the Name, Image, and Likeness ruling, athletes from all sports can make money now and still compete as an NCAA athlete.

This was never a choice before. Had the new NIL not been in place, I guarantee that Suni would have gone professional instead, capitalizing on monetary opportunities.
There have been multiple gymnasts that have turned their back on NCAA to either go professional or go back to elite in the last 25-30 years.

Additionally, she had made a commitment to Auburn way before her Olympic fame. College life is completely different now than what she was expecting less than a year ago. If it has turned into something that is not fun and is not desirable, she might as well turn to elite. Taking online classes and not being able to lead life as a regular college student on campus is no different than living at home and home schooling. The only difference for her is the team aspect.

Where is your outrage for Alicia Sacramone who left Brown after a year, Breanna Dowell who left Oklahoma hanging for a year while she trained for Rio, MyKayla Skinner who left her Utah team to train for Tokyo and never returned, Kerri Strug for not going to UCLA, Amanda Borden for not going to Georgia, Dominique Dawes for not going to Stanford, they all decided that NCAA was not the path to go since other opportunities appeared.

If you don’t understand how NIL works look at the transfer portal for all sports. After the end of March Madness, hundreds of basketball players entered the transfer portal. NCAA is no longer this commitment/ stuck with it/ have to accept it to the universities. The athletes are empowered to do what is best for them and not for the schools that capitalize off of them. If coaches can resign and head for better opportunities, the athletes should also get to do so.

 

[Sasha]

Tbf, the gymternet will pretty much reflexively criticise anything Skinner does, because she’s Skinner.