TOKYO — The 18-year-old artistic gymnast Sunisa Lee of St. Paul, Minnesota, won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with the title of her event’s all-around best athlete for Team USA. Lee scored a total of 57.433 — ahead of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and the Russian Olympic Committee’s Angelina Melnikova. On the bench was Team USA’s favored gymnast, Simone Biles, who encouraged Lee on. Biles had withdrawn for mental health issues two days earlier. Lee’s triumph followed a spate of injuries last year, including a broken bone in a foot and an Achilles tendon injury. Her family, at a watch party in St. Paul with 300 friends, were glued to video for every event.
Her path to gold. Lee started the evening with a 14.600 score on vault before moving into the medal positions with 15.300 on uneven bars. Her 13.833 on balance beam handed her the lead.