How Suni Lee and Simone Biles Support Each Other Ahead of the 2024 Olympics

While Suni Lee and Simone Biles are both competing for a spot on the 2024 Olympic team, it hasn't thrown the team dynamic off-balance.

The 2020 teammates cheered each other on at the Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships earlier this month.

"We always want the best for each other," Suni told E! News in an exclusive interview. "We all want the same spot, but we're also all rooting for each other because we know the potential that somebody else can bring. We also understand the difficulties and the hardships that you have to go through every single day to be here. So to have the support and to just know that you can lean on each other has been the most helpful thing and something that you don't see often."

Simone sprang into action after Suni performed one and a half twists instead of her intended two and didn't stick the landing during her vault at the championships. And the four-time gold medalist—who experienced the "twisties" at the 2020 Games—could relate.

"After Suni vaulted, I knew exactly what was going through her head," Simone recalled during a press conference. "I dealt with that in Tokyo. So I just knew that she needed some encouragement and somebody to trust her gymnastics for her and to believe in her. So that's exactly what I did." 

After offering some reassurance, Simone went over to support Suni as she competed on bars—giving her a high-five after she completed her routine.

"I think she knew that I needed help in the moment," Suni told reporters, per a video shared by USA Today. "She out of anyone understands, basically, what I did on vault. So, she just came over to see if I was OK and basically just helped boost me up and get my confidence back up because at that point I was kinda thinking that this was over. So it was really nice having her in my corner, and she's just been so supportive."

Simone won the women's all-around and Suni placed fourth—with them now both preparing for the 2024 Olympic Team Trials later this month.

"It's definitely a lot of pressure," Suni told E!. "I feel like I've been feeling it a lot more recently, but also kind of not really. Because I have been trying to take the pressure off of myself and really just knowing that I am doing this for myself. Because I've had to overcome so much the past two years to where I didn't even think that I would be here."

That includes dealing with a kidney issue that ended her final season on Auburn University's gymnastics team early in 2023. And though Suni told E! she's "doing really good" health-wise, she noted she's still trying to not think too far into the future. 

"Making the Olympic team obviously would be a dream," the gymnast said. "But right now, I want to focus on what's going to happen today at practice. Like that's been my biggest thing—just focusing on what's in front of me and not what's ahead of me because otherwise I'm going to get so nervous and probably have a mental breakdown."

And so Suni continues to take care of both her physical and mental health.

"I journal, I go to therapy," she added, "and that's been the biggest game changer because there was a lot of self-doubt in there and a lot of pressure and a lot of not knowing where it all stemmed from. So to be able to talk about it, speak about it and know that it's OK to not be OK and to feel these ways, it's a great feeling."

Sharing her experience has also helped Suni when it comes to her battle with eczema. And recently, the 21-year-old partnered with Eli Lilly and Company—the health equity sponsor of Team USA—to help others with the same diagnosis feel less alone.  

"I feel like it started off really difficult because I always felt so insecure, and, I guess, just embarrassed to say that I had eczema or to even show the symptoms," Suni said. "I know when I was having a flare-up and it was very noticeable, I was always trying to cover it up with my makeup, which ultimately made it worse. So, it didn't help in the end. But I think being able to talk about it and also partnering with Lilly has been something so amazing for me mentally because I feel so much more confident in my own skin and now I can just embrace it."

"I think that's the message that I want to send out to younger generations," she continued, "because, when I was younger, I don't think a lot of people were talking about it. So to be someone that other people can kind of look up to is just a great feeling all around."

And whether the three-time Olympic medalist adds some more hardware to her trophy shelf or not, she's proud of how far she's come.  

"I think I would give myself a medal for not giving up," Suni said. "I mean, there has been so much that I could have given up on and so many things that have happened to where I could have just kind of put this aside and moved on with my life. But I wanted better for myself and I also wanted to be able to walk away from this Olympics or this quad knowing that I gave everything that I had and not regret anything."

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