MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — The United States Women's Gymnastics team made no secret about it's desire to win gold at the Paris Olympics, but St Paul's Suni Lee did have a secret weapon back in Minnesota.
"Team Suni is going to include around 200 people today," said Malya Chang, Suni's aunt, who helped host a special #TeamSuni viewing party for family and close friends in Maplewood.
"Family alone is going to be about 100 (people). We have four generations from grandma all the way to great grandkids," Chang said.
Suni's family has been rallying around her long before she realized her Olympic dreams in 2021, but #TeamSuni has grown even more since she won all-around gold during the 2021 Olympics.
"My niece from my husband's side designed this (t-shirt), and she's from Albuquerque," Chang said. "It says, 'Strong, confident, focused' and she'll do great."
Unlike the family's first watch party in 2021, this year's event didn't feature her parents — at least in person. Although they traveled to Paris with several of Suni's siblings, they connected on several video calls so the hometown crowd could get a behind the scenes look at the competition.
Suni's oldest brother, Jonah Lee, couldn't make the trip to France due to work, but he couldn't miss a chance to watch with the rest of the family in Minnesota.
"I took off work today and I'm excited to see her compete and do all her flips," he said. "Every time there's one of these competitions, you're always nervous. You don't want anything bad to happen. But when it's time, she's always locked in."
That's exactly how you could describe Suni's performance on Tuesday. The cheers grew louder and louder with each of her routines, and the place erupted when Team USA officially earned gold.
"I wish I could have been there with them but it's still great to be here, together," Chang said. "I never dreamed that I would know anybody in the Olympics and just to know that it's not just any Hmong person, it's my niece, that's such an amazing feeling."
Suni now turns her attention to the individual all-around finals on Thursday. She and Simone Biles are set to make history as the first Olympic all-around champs to ever face off in the finals.
"On Thursday, it's going to be even more nerve-wracking," Chang said. "They're on their own. It's just Suni, you know?"
Then again, it's never really "just Suni" when you have a whole team of family and friends cheering you on.