Who is Suni Lee's boyfriend? Team USA gymnast battled incurable illness to win gold at Paris Olympics

PARIS, FRANCE: Sunisa "Suni" Lee and the US women’s gymnastics team created history by winning gold in the women's artistic gymnastics team final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, July 30.

The 21-year-old gymnast, who won gold for the individual all-around during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, has faced numerous challenges over the past few years. 

She not only had to battle two types of kidney disease over the past year to return to the mats but also faced societal backlashes for her interracial relationship.

This brings us to the question of who is Suni dating.

Suni Lee and her USC Trojans footballer boyfriend likes to keep their romance off of social media

Per Team USA biography, Suni Lee is in a relationship with Jaylin Smith, a USC Trojans football player. 

While the couple has been going steady for almost three years, they have stopped sharing each other's photos on social media.

After debuting their relationship in 2021 on Instagram, the then-18-year-old Suni received immense backlash from her own Hmong-American community for her interracial relationship. 

Since then the pair have deleted all of their couple pictures from social media and are largely keeping their relationship private.

One of her fans defended Suni in a TikTok video, saying, "I know that Sunisa will be judged by certain eyes in the Hmong American Community because her man is Black. LOVE is LOVE, no matter what race or gender you are. Keep doing you QUEEN."

Per Heavy, the gymnast responded in the comment thread, saying, "This makes me so happy. I’ve received so much hate😭 they support me when it’s beneficial for them never when it comes to my happiness. thank you!"

The cornerback, who is in his senior year at the University of South California, has made 123 tackles and an interception in his three-year career after appearing in 33 games with 22 starts.

Jaylin also works with House of Victory as part of his NIL (name, image, and likeness) rights.

Suni Lee was diagnosed with two kidney diseases in 2023

In 2023, the athlete announced that she was retiring from college gymnastics early to handle a health matter, as per TODAY.

She wrote on X (formerly Twitter) at that time, "I have been dealing with a non-gymnastics health related issue involving my kidneys. For my safety, the medical team did not clear me to train and compete over the last few weeks."

Suni continued, "I am blessed and thankful to be working with the best specialized medical team to treat and manage my diagnosis. My focus at this time is my health and recovery."

As a result of her condition, she started experiencing abnormal swelling all over her body and subsequently gained around 40 pounds (18 kg).

After several tests, doctors determined that she had not one, but two forms of kidney disease, as per Sports Illustrated. While she hasn't shared the exact diagnosis, the athlete says one of them is incurable. 

Because of the diagnosis, she stopped training for a while. When she made it back to the mats, she had to modify her schedule to include physical therapy. 

She described her comeback in an Instagram post, writing, "This comeback was so much more than my return to elite gymnastics. It was me proving to myself that I can overcome hard things, and to hopefully inspire others to never let life’s setbacks stop you from going after your dreams."

In an interview with Team USA Media Summit in April, Suni shared, "My coaches have never had to deal with someone who has had two kidney diseases."

She continued, "And obviously, I’m like, 'OK, I don’t know any other gymnasts that have two kidney diseases that have had to go through this.' So it’s all a learning process. And we’re taking it day by day."

Nevertheless, she started getting better in January. 

Suni’s trainer Jess Graba told a publication, "That’s when she started saying, 'I think they’re getting a handle on it. I’m feeling a lot better. The doctor just called me yesterday and told me that they think they can knock down some of the medications. So I’m feeling like maybe I want to try.'"

During the April Summit, Suni shared that her disease has gone into remission and she is doing much better.