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Auburn all-arounder Sunisa Lee announces upcoming NCAA season will be her last

The Tigers are getting another season of gymnastics standout Sunisa Lee, but they should cherish that time while they have it.

Lee announced on her social media on Tuesday that while she will be returning to the Plains for her second collegiate season in 2023, the upcoming NCAA gymnastics season will be her last at Auburn. Lee said in the video that she wishes to focus on preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics after her final season has concluded.

“I’ve always had this tiny voice in the back of my mind telling me I wasn’t done with elite and wanted to give it another shot,” Lee said in the video. “As you near the end of an Olympic cycle and get closer to the Games themselves, training ramps up to a point where it is completely a full-time job. Seven to eight hours a day, six to seven days a week. I know that to have the best shot to represent my country again, but I need to dedicate that time, and this decision allows me to do that.”

Lee has been nothing short of spectacular for the Tigers. So far, she’s racked up eight All-American nods across all four events, won 2022 SEC Freshman of the Year and was named to the All-SEC team in a campaign where she helped lead the Auburn Tigers to gymnastics’ Final Four. Her stardom in the Olympics and continued production has also made her one of the NCAA’s leading athletes in NIL.

Lee will kick off her farewell tour on the Plains with an immediate jump into SEC play when the Tigers face off against the Arkansas Razorbacks at home.

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire