Sunisa Lee made history in 2021 when she clinched the top spot in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around at the Tokyo Olympics. Along with being the first woman of Asian descent to win the Olympic all-around title, she became the fifth consecutive American to take the coveted spot at the summer games.
She’s also the first Olympic all-around gold medalist to compete in NCAA gymnastics, and could earn money through sponsorships and deals in addition to doing college gymnastics.
It’s a path that’s now possible after a 2021 Supreme Court decision causing an NCAA rule change to allow athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness, or NIL.
In past years, elite gymnasts decided at a young age whether they wanted to pursue the professional route of earning money via sponsorships or maintaining their amateur status for opportunities to receive college athletic scholarships. NCAA rules prohibited professional athletes, so gymnasts couldn’t compete in college if they received money from sponsorships.
But now athletes don’t have to choose. The rule change means gymnasts like Lee can profit off their success without forfeiting their NCAA eligibility, competing in college while also earning money from deals and sponsorships.
“I’m so fortunate to be able to compete at the collegiate level and pursue my business at the same time,” Lee told Forbes in 2022. “It’s huge for athletes who don’t have pro leagues to go on to after college.”
The gymnasts representing the U.S. in Tokyo had proportionally more athletes who competed in college than at any other Olympics.
1984 marked the first time the summer games were held since the NCAA introduced women’s gymnastics as a champion sport in 1982.
Since then, 63 unique athletes have competed in the sport’s biggest stage at the Olympics — excluding alternates — and at the collegiate level. These gymnasts retained their amateur status and couldn’t earn money for their Olympic success.
The bulk of these competitors represented North American countries: 23 for the United States and 19 for Canada.
Two Olympic gymnasts competed at the collegiate level for another sport. Amy Chow took on diving at Stanford beginning in 2008 and Phoebe Mills did the same at Miami starting in 1991.
UCLA’s women’s gymnastics team has the most Olympians by a landslide.
The Bruins boast 17 Olympians, eight of whom represented the U.S. It’s nearly twice as many as second-place Stanford, which has nine Olympians — all of whom were international.
UCLA has had an athlete who’s competed at nine of the 10 Olympic Games since women’s gymnastics became an NCAA sport.
The list includes Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian, who in 2017 became the first Olympic gold medalists to compete at the NCAA level.
“I just feel like they enrich the program so much,” then-head coach Valerie Kondos Field told ESPN in 2017. “Regardless of what we’re scoring or not scoring, their commitment to the team, their excitement, their enthusiasm for anything we do… they just have bought in 100 percent.”
Lee is vying for one of five spots on the 2024 Olympic team.
So is Leanne Wong, a junior at Florida and an alternate in Tokyo. She’s one of three athletes who elected to compete in college this season while also training to represent the U.S. in Paris. It’s her coaches at Florida who travel with her to national team camps, elite meets and international competitions.
On top of gymnastics, she balances her classes, business — she’s the founder and CEO of Leanne Wong Bowtique, a bow and leotard company — and NIL deals.
“I really just have to take it day by day and plan out each day, what needs to get done first, and time management,” Wong told Capital News Service.
As of January, 13 contenders for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team have ties to college gymnastics, according to the NCAA. Of these, seven have already competed at the collegiate level, while the other six haven’t entered college but are committed to schools.
The country’s strongest prospects face off at the Olympic Team Trials in June. After two days of competition in Minneapolis, USA Gymnastics will determine who heads to Paris.