--- description: Find out why Sunisa Lee is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Sunisa Lee: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf937b8b7e5a7b95/698a1cb986f68edaf16f04ba/sunisa-lee-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 09, 2021 # Sunisa Lee by Nastia Liukin  Sunisa Lee Doug Mills—The New York Times/Redux Sunisa Lee Doug Mills—The New York Times/ReduxDoug Mills—The New York Times/Redux Under the bright lights of sports’ biggest arena, Sunisa Lee’s Olympic performance not only cements her legacy but also symbolizes strength and fuels inspiration around the world. Facing unprecedented headwinds during a pandemic, as well as personal adversity and the weight of a nation’s expectations, Suni was placed in a unique position to display the unstoppable force that she is: fiery but kind, dedicated but abundant with youthful joy, and fiercely talented. While her [gold-medal win](https://time.com/6085393/how-suni-lee-won-gold-all-around-tokyo-olympics/ "undefined") in this year’s all-around competition accomplishes a lifelong ambition, her journey as an individual outside of gymnastics is just beginning. As the [first Hmong American Olympian](https://time.com/6085830/sunisa-lee-win-hmong-community/ "undefined"), Suni has an impact that extends far beyond any border or sport—it signifies representation. This milestone has and will continue to inspire the [Hmong community](https://time.com/6085002/sunisa-lee-hmong-american-tokyo-olympics/ "undefined"), but it also sends a simple yet powerful message to underrepresented people everywhere: Dream big because _anything_ is possible. _Liukin is a five-time Olympic medalist_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095814/sunisa-lee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095814/sunisa-lee/"},"headline":"Sunisa Lee","datePublished":"2021-09-09T19:53:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:15.312Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095814/sunisa-lee/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021","T100 2021 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf937b8b7e5a7b95/698a1cb986f68edaf16f04ba/sunisa-lee-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf937b8b7e5a7b95/698a1cb986f68edaf16f04ba/sunisa-lee-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095814/sunisa-lee/","name":"Sunisa Lee"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sunisa Lee's Incredible Journey to a Historic Olympic Gymnastics All-Around Gold Medal","description":"The women’s gymnastics all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics was the coronation everyone expected it to be. Only the star was different. After Simone Biles withdrew from the competition to prioritize her mental well-being, American Sunisa Lee stepped into the gaping void left by her iconic teammate and stepped up to win her first gold medal and Team USA’s fifth straight in the event.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1eNSartJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-07-30T15:28:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1eNSartJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095814/sunisa-lee/","duration":"PT2M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095814/sunisa-lee/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```