Olympic Gymnast Suni Lee Explains Why She Fell Off Balance Beam

Italy’s Alice D’Amato Wins Gold After Simone and Suni Stumble| 2024 Olympics

Turns out quiet makes Suni Lee feel off balance.

The Team USA gymnast—who has won two bronze medals and one gold medal at the 2024 Olympics—shared what caused her and fellow teammate Simone Biles to fall off the balance beam during their Aug. 5 competition in Paris.

“It was really silent when you get up there,” Suni told reporters afterwards . “I don’t like that just because it gives me too much time to think and I can hear everything.”

The mix of stress and quiet caused issues for the gymnasts, including Romania’s Sabrina Voinea, who also fell.

“I like the cheering,” the 21-year-old continued. “I don’t like the silence. I don’t like it. I thrive off the crowd, so having the crowd’s energy especially after you finish a routine is really helpful.”

Suni joked that she could “literally hear myself breathing,” and was more stressed about the fact that “everybody could hear me breathing when I was up there.”

Simone doubled down on how the quiet impacted her. 

Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images

“Beam final is always the most stressful,” she told reporters via NBC News. “But usually, we have like music or background noise, whatever that may be.”

According to the 27-year-old, the gymnasts “do better in environments when there’s noise going on because it feels most like practice.”

“It was really weird and awkward,” she continued, “and we’ve asked several times if we could have some music or some background noise. So I am not really sure what happened there, but yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it. Yeah, it was an odd beam final.”

But not everyone had issues with the balance beam, as Team Italy’s Alice D’Amato took home the gold while Zhou Yaqin of China earned silver and Italian gymnast Manila Esposito walked away with bronze.

Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

And luckily the Olympians are keeping a sense of humor about their falls, with Suni even playing into a TikTok trend and sharing a video of her mishap Aug. 6 with the caption, “unfortunately i was selected for the olympics.”

But Suni was feeling celebratory on Instagram, sharing several photos of her Olympics journey Aug. 5 and writing, “2x olympian, 6x olympic medalist.”

For more great moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics, keep reading.

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Aris MESSINIS / AFP

Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

LeBron James and Steph Curry were definitely feeling it after the USA men’s basketball team beat Serbia to advance to the finals.

Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

2 Become 1

Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya from Team China were clearly working together during the women’s canoe double 500-meter semifinal.

Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Come On, Gold!

Team USA’s Sha’carri Richardson picked up her first gold in the women’s 4×100-meter relay.

Jesper Sunesen/Aller/MEGA

A Most Iconic Duo

Everyone’s favorite BFFs Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart hitched a ride on a golf cart.

Le Segretain/Getty Images

High Kicks

Team China’s Liang Yushuai gave folks a new photo pose to try next time they visit the Eiffel Tower.

RUT

Careful With the Bike!

Dutch cyclist Harrie Lavreysen was very enthusiastic about nabbing a second gold medal.

Karwai Tang / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Shock and Awe

Emma Roberts couldn’t believe what she was seeing during the men’s semi-final basketball match between the USA and Serbia.

Hugo Philpott/UPI

Chomping On the Gold

Tara Davis-Woodhall of Team USA went for the customary biting of the medal after winning gold in the women’s long jump.

DeFodi Images / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Don’t Lose Your Shirt

Sergio Camello of Spain found his own way to celebrate after scoring his fifth goal against France.

VEGARD GRØTT/BILDBYRÅN

Tuck It In

Emilia Nilsson Garip of Sweden dove into the water during the women’s 3 meters springboard final.

Jean Catuffe / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

A Slam Dunk

Gabrielle Union was cheering on Team USA as they went head-to-head with Serbia in the men’s basketball semi-final match.

Blondet Eliot/ABACA

Nothing Left For Them To Do But Dance

Team Spain got into the groove during the rhythmic gymnastics competition.

Laurent Zabulon/AbacaPress

Royal Onlookers

Ben-Sylvester Strautmann, Alexandra de Hanovre, Prince Albert of Monaco and Alain Bernard cheer while at the Men’s Team Bronze medal match.

RUT

Double the Fun

Paulina Paszek and Jule Marie Hake of Team Germany celebrate earning third place in the Women’s kayak double 500m final.

Jean Catuffe / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Zoom In

Carmelo Anthony wanted to remember the moment as he and son Kiyan Anthony watched Team USA beat Serbia in men’s basketball.

Vesa Moilanen/Shutterstock

A Queen

Team USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone celebrated after breaking her own record and winning gold in the women’s 400m hurdles final.

Ryan Browne/Shutterstock

Twisting Every Which Way

Elzhana Taniyeva of Kazakhstan showed off her very impressive range at the rhythmic gymnastics Individual all round.

Richard Ellis/UPI

Parisian Pride

One fan really wanted everyone to know which country he was rooting for.

AbacaPress

Go, Dad, Go

Bronny James cheered on father LeBron James as Team USA took on Serbia in the Men’s basketball semifinals competition.

Jewel SAMAD / AFP

Quick Break

Noah Lyles of Team USA needed a second after competing in the men’s 200m final.

Dave Shopland/Shutterstock

Not the Face!

Great Britain’s Bradly Sinden tried to protect the goods during the Men’s Taekwondo 68kg quarterfinals.

Abel F Ros/Shutterstock

Dance It Out

Italy’s Milena Baldassarri put on quite the show during the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around competition.

Paul Hanna/UPI

Yee-Haw!

Tara David-Woodhall pulled out the cowboy hat after winning gold in women’s long jump competition.

Odd Andersen-Pool/Getty Images

Flying Through the Air

Team USA’s Tom Schaar put on quite the aerial display while competing in the men’s park skateboarding final.

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Go Team!

USA’s water polo team was full of excitement as they beat Australia and advanced to the semifinals. 

Aris MESSINIS / AFP via Getty Images

Going for the Ball

The game was heated as the USA took on Nigeria in the women’s quarterfinal basketball match.

Paul Hanna/UPI

One Final Hurdle

Grant Holloway repped the USA after winning the gold medal in the Men’s 110m hurdles final.

Miguel MEDINA / AFP via Getty Images

Do You Even Lift?

Venezuela’s Katherin Echandia Zarate showed that she never skips arm day during the weightlifting competition.

Dave Winter/Shutterstock

An Unfortuante Spill

Michelle Jenneke of Australia didn’t quite clear her hurdle in her Women’s 100m heat.

Xinhua/Shutterstock

Steep Competition

In the women’s steeplechase, Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia hits the water. 

Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics daily on NBC and Peacock until the summer games end with the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.