ST PAUL, Minn. — As the Olympics wrap up in Tokyo, the party is still going strong in Minnesota.
St. Paul celebrated its own Sunisa Lee with a parade Sunday afternoon. Lee took home three medals for the United States – one bronze, one silver and one gold.
KARE 11 anchor Gia Vang emceed a program at Aldrich Arena following the parade, where Suni was joined by her parents, Governor Tim Walz, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, Minnesota State Senator Foung Hawj, and various other performers and speakers.
"This is truly amazing," said Suni before a large crowd Sunday evening. "It's not like anything I ever expected. To see all of your amazing faces here is just truly incredible."
The parade was the latest in a series of celebrations for Lee and Minnesota's other Olympians. After Lee's gold medal win, Gov. Tim Walz declared Friday, July 30 as "Sunisa Lee Day." He said Lee, who is the first Hmong-American Olympian, overcame major challenges with her teammates.
"There's a lot of young boys and girls out here and I just want to say that if you ever want to reach your dreams, please try and go for it, because you never know how far you're going to get," Suni said. "It truly is amazing when you do reach your dreams, so please don't ever, ever – even if it gets hard – don't ever stop."