Olympic medalist Suni Lee says she was victim of racist attack

American Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics Suni Lee says she was recently pepper-sprayed in an anti-Asian attack while she was out with friends in Los Angeles.

Lee told lifestyle news website Pop Sugar that she was waiting for a ride with her friends, all of whom were of Asian descent, when a car drove by with the passengers shouting racist insults, such as “ching chong” and ordering them to “go back to where they came from.”.

She said one of the passengers sprayed her arm with pepper spray as the car drove off.

Lee: There was nothing I could do

“I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off,” Lee recounted to Pop Sugar. “I didn’t do anything to them, and having the reputation, it’s so hard because I didn’t want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen.”

The 18-year-old from Minnesota is the first Hmong-American to be part of the US Olympic team. Both of her parents immigrated from Laos to the United States. Lee is the 2020 Olympic individual all-around champion in women’s gymnastics, and she also clinched a silver medal in the artistic team all-around and a bronze in the uneven bars.

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Anti-Asian incidents skyrocketing in US

Anti-Asian attacks in the United States have been on the rise since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.

The not-for-profit coalition Stop AAPI Hate recently published data on racially motivated attacks stating that more than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents have been reported since March last year through June this year.