Lee overcomes recent illness, picks up 6th Olympic medal

PARIS -- There is a freedom that Sunisa Lee feels when she's on the uneven bars that's hard for her to describe.

Sure, there's anxiety before every routine. Funny how it melts away the second that familiar combination of wood and fiberglass hits her grips.

At that point, the American gymnastics star just sort of goes blank. Her innate air awareness -- a talent that longtime coach Jess Graba believes Lee simply may have been born with -- and the countless hours she's logged in an event that's become her signature combine allow her to zen out.

"It's just fun to me," she said. "(It's like) flying around out there."

For the better part of a year, however, Lee was largely grounded. The struggle to get a pair of kidney diseases under control led her weight to fluctuate wildly.