The 2023 US Open champion, Coco Gauff, recently expressed her admiration and support for a fellow American athlete who earned significant milestones this past season. What makes her 2024 achievements even more noteworthy is that the athlete was coming off an incurable sickness that had her sporting career in jeopardy for a point in time and even led her to take a hiatus from the sport for several months.
However, she redeemed herself, came with all the guns blazing, and helped America create history at this year's Paris Olympics in August. This athlete recently reflected on how her 2024 started in turmoil and how it ended on a high note. She also expressed her gratitude to her fans and supporters who have been by her side throughout her journey.
Coco Gauff's heartfelt reaction to the Paris Olympic champion
It was the 21-year-old American gymnast Suni Lee who shared a post on her Instagram handle on Wednesday, January 1, and shared a glimpse of 2024. Notably, Lee made her comeback in 2024 after staying away from the mats for a significant period of time due to an incurable kidney illness that led to swelling in her body. The condition affected her so badly that Lee once shared that she could barely move and wanted to quit gymnastics as well. The illness also led her to announce her retirement from her NCAA career at Auburn University. However, Lee made a triumphant comeback at the Paris Olympics winning one gold and two bronze.
In the aforementioned Instagram post Lee posted a streak picture featuring her friends, family and moments from her Paris Olympics campaign.
"2024 easily started out as one of the hardest years but turned out to be one of the best years!! truly so grateful for every opportunity and all the amazing people this year brought me here’s to 2025," she wrote in the caption.
In the comments of the post, the nine-time WTA Tour singles titles winner Gauff shared her adorable reaction and wrote:
"amazing ❤️"
Gauff is renowned for her strong connections with numerous American athletes across various sports, and Lee is one of them. Her close camaraderie with the gymnast was evident when the tennis star secured her first WTA Finals victory in Riyadh last November and received a heartfelt congratulatory message from Lee.