Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty
Suni Lee has revealed that she’s struggled with “imposter syndrome” sincewinning goldat the Tokyo Summer Olympics last year.
“I feel like after the Olympics, there’s just been so much doubt in like, ‘Oh, she shouldn’t have won Olympics, blah, blah, blah,’ and it really hits my soul,” she told the outlet.
The Auburn University freshman added, “Like impostor syndrome, that’s exactly what I have. And it’s very hard. It was very hard for me to motivate myself the first couple of weeks here because it was like I didn’t want to do gymnastics, I hated it.”
Leehas also faced new challenges while competing since becoming a household name with her success last summer.
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“I think it’s important because a lot of the times people forget that we’re human,” she said. “I think people just look at me as a famous person; they don’t actually look at me as a person and to kind of see that we can make mistakes, too.”
She continued, “When everybody expects you to be good for Auburn, it’s really hard for me just mentally, because I already put so much pressure on myself that when I have that extra pressure stress added on to it, I just kind of break.”
The athlete has also dealt with “anxiety attacks” at her college gymnastic meets for Auburn, she told ESPN.
Said Lee, “Like the first couple of the meets of this season, I was a wreck because it was like constant screaming my name and like, ‘Suni, can you take a picture?’ or ‘Can you sign an autograph?’ while I’m trying to concentrate.”
Lee has started writing in a journal to cope with her feelings, according to ESPN, and once again found success on the mat.
Last month, she performed a bar routine that included a move never before done in NCAA gymnastics, received a perfect 10 on the beam and took home another all-around title as Auburn set a record in a win against Kentucky on Feb. 25, according toAL.com.
Lee received an all-around score of 39.775 to help the Tigers win against the Wildcats, the outlet reported.
source: people.com
