When Suni Lee was younger, her dad couldn't afford to buy her a balance beam. So he built her one.

Suni Lee, an 18-year-old Team USA gymnast from Minnesota, just took home the gold medal for the women's gymnastics all-around at the Tokyo Olympics. She got there with hard work, perseverance and support from her family – especially her dad, John. 

Lee is the first Hmong-American Olympian, with both parents immigrating to the U.S. from Laos. She was born Sunisa Phabsomphou to her mother, Yeev. When she was 2 years old, Yeev met John Lee, a recently divorced dad with two children, and began dating him, according to an ESPN interview with the family. The pair never married, but Suni considers John her dad – even changing her last name to Lee.