Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee expressed sheer excitement after meeting music icon Beyoncé at the 2024 Glamour Women of the Year gala on October 8. Their warm encounter, which included a heartfelt hug, was captured in a video shared by Glamour on X (formerly Twitter).
The 21-year-old gymnast beamed with joy as Beyoncé embraced her, creating a memorable moment amid the celebrations at the annual event. Lee also had a chance to connect with other stars, including Demi Lovato, during the gala.
Following the event, Lee took to social media to share her ecstatic reaction, captioning the video, “U guyyssss I cannot breathe stop.” She also posted an additional photo of their interaction on her Instagram Stories.
Lee was one of the 11 honorees featured in Glamour’s Women of the Year issue, alongside Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother. The event took an emotional turn when Knowles delivered a heartfelt speech about motherhood, expressing, “I’ve had many careers, but I’ve always said that the best job that I’ve ever had is being a mother.”
This summer, Beyoncé made headlines when she introduced Team USA during NBC’s primetime coverage of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. In a dynamic two-and-a-half-minute clip, she remixed her single “YA YA” while welcoming the gymnastics team, which included Lee and her teammates.
“Hello, girls,” Beyoncé greeted the athletes, to which they excitedly replied, “Hello, Beyoncé.” She continued, “We wanna welcome you to the 2024 Summer Olympic games! Ah! On behalf of Team USA, we gon’ make it do what it do, YA YA! Put them hands together!”
In Paris, Lee had a remarkable performance, securing bronze medals in the uneven bars and all-around final, as well as a gold in the team final. Reflecting on her journey, Lee described the Olympics as her “redemption tour” after facing challenges due to a chronic kidney disease the previous year.
“This has been my redemption tour from the last Olympics,” she told PEOPLE. “I’ve been trying to give myself grace for not being, I guess, fully back to normal Suni. But ever since I got sick, I feel like normal Suni is — she’s just a different girl now,” adding that she views herself as “more mature” and “more fun.”
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