Suni Lee Proves She Is the Queen of Chocolate Brown Swimwear

The Olympic gymnast rocked the rich shade on a vacation in Turks and Caicos and on the SI Swimsuit set in Florida.

Suni Lee was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. | Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

Olympic gymnast Suni Lee celebrated her 23rd birthday on Monday, March 9, and the Minnesota native traveled to Turks and Caicos to celebrate with her pals.

The athlete shared some of the highlights of her trip with her 3.5 million Instagram followers on Thursday, and her carousel of pics instantly caught our attention. In the first slide, Lee perched on the edge of an infinity pool as she gazed upon a glorious beach in front of her.

“staying forever,” Lee wrote in the caption of her tropical trip.

The comments section of the athlete’s Instagram post was full of heart-eyed emojis, courtesy of stars like Ice Spice and Gabrielle Anderson. Fellow athlete Chloe Kim also piped in to write, “Bday baddie!! Love u!” while another one of Lee’s followers added, “BIRTHDAY PRINCESS.”

Other pics showed the 2025 SI Swimsuit model with her girlfriends, while the sixth snapshot in the photo dump brought us right back to Lee’s time on set in the Sunshine State.

In the pic, Lee sprawled out on a gray towel while clad in a chocolate brown bikini. The two-piece instantly brought to mind one look in particular from the gymnast’s photo shoot at The Boca Raton in Boca Raton, Fla. While on location with the SI Swimsuit team, Lee modeled a similarly-hued monochromatic bikini by St. Agni. In several snapshots, she posed while sprawled out across a towel, just like in her recent Instagram post.

Suni Lee was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by St. Agni. | Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

During her photo shoot, Lee, who is a two-time Olympian with a total of six Olympic medals to her name, opened up with us about how her lifelong career in gymnastics began to influence her body image from a young age. The athlete was only 6 years old when she began her training.

“Gymnastics has definitely impacted my body image,” she stated. “We have to wear skin tight leotards and you know, there's so many critics online, but I'm always gonna be my biggest critic. So whenever you read things, it just kind of makes you overthink, but I’ve just had to learn that my body is my temple and I wouldn’t be able to do what I have to do without it.”

Lee’s confidence on set was palpable, and really shines through in the photographs that were captured during her time on set with photographer Ben Horton. View her complete 2025 SI Swimsuit gallery here.

Suni Lee was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by St. Agni. | Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

Suni Lee was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by St. Agni. | Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

Suni Lee was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by St. Agni. | Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

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