November 2024 Issue! 50 Most Artistic Class of 2024!

04 Nov November 2024 Issue! 50 Most Artistic Class of 2024!

Posted at 15:55h in Issue Previews, News & Features by Christy Sandmaier 0 Comments

By Christy Sandmaier

Vice President & Co-Publisher

Features Sneak Peek!

Our November 2024 Issue celebrates our 50 Most Artistic Class of 2024 starring Sunisa Lee! One of our favorite traditions every year is the naming of Inside Gymnastics magazine’s annual 50 Most Artistic gymnasts list. We love how a photo can capture so much from a moment in time, from a picture-perfect leap to the intensity of a gravity-defying skill to the emotion expressed in captivating choreography. From Antwerp to the NCAA stage to Paris and everywhere in between, we hope you are as inspired by each of these athletes as we are! Plus! Check out all of our up front features including Shannon Says, Chalking Up, Inside Buzz, Industry Insider, and a bonus People, Place, and Faces!

The Queen.

Determination, tenacity and resolve can only begin to describe Suni Lee’s path to Paris. She’s a true artist, and has lifted the sport to new heights throughout her career. With her trademark beauty and poise, exceptional grace, execution and style, her presence on the competition floor is the essence of women’s artistic gymnastics.

This year, the emotion brought forth in her floor performance also told us so much about her journey, bringing us to tears the first time we saw it. The song choice, “Eye of the Untold Her” by violinist Lindsey Stirling absolutely could not have been a more perfect backdrop for Suni’s story, and brought the crowd at the 2024 Olympic Trials to their feet as she made her second Olympic dream come true.

Stirling herself exclusively told PEOPLE magazine how Lee ended up choosing the song for her routine. “Back in January, I actually reached out to Suni via Instagram to see if she was looking for floor routine music,” Stirling said. “When she said she was, I shared a link to my unreleased album. Outside of my direct management team, she was the fi rst person to hear my whole album. She wrote me back saying she was going to use ‘Eye of the Untold Her.’ ”

The violinist was also “stunned” by the announcers in Paris shouting out her name before Lee’s performance, which Stirling documented in an emotional reaction video on Instagram. “I watched Suni’s fl oor routine in the team all around from my tour bus,” she said. “My dancers and I stayed on the bus to cheer her on. Once she started performing I got super emotional. Tears were streaming down my face the whole time.”

Stirling also told PEOPLE she chalks up her reaction to being a longtime gymnastics fan and knowing Suni’s comeback from being sidelined from her kidney disease. “She is a warrior and she’s overcome so much to get back to the Olympics,” she says. “Suni truly embodies the message of what my song was written about and she performed it so magically.” Soaring to Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, Suni became an overnight sensation. She brought new eyes and new excitement to collegiate gymnastics in 2022 competing for Auburn, and raising the level and awareness of the sport everywhere.

Overcoming illness in 2024 after a tumultuous 2023 and against what seemed insurmountable odds, she’s now a two-time Olympic AllAround medalist, her legacy among the best ever secured forever. When it came time to decide, Suni Lee was without question, our unanimous choice for our 50 Most Artistic Class of 2024 Cover.

We’re proud to present the Class of 2024 in this issue. An artistic performance has the ability to capture your heart, your mind and your soul. The athletes featured in our 2024 list have done exactly that. For these athletes, we sense in their performances that it’s about much more than meeting the code or achieving a certain score. It’s about showcasing their spirit through their gymnastics and connecting on a deeper level.

There are so many in the sport who are in this category, well beyond our list. And for that reason, it’s so incredibly hard for our team each year to narrow down to 50! But, these are indeed athletes who have moved and inspired us time and time again. We salute all athletes who go above and beyond to put the artistry in Artistic Gymnastics. And no matter what level you are in the sport or what role you play, we hope you’ll take inspiration from all featured.

To our primary photographers Lloyd Smith, Grace Chiu and Ricardo Bufolin, whose work has been featured prominently since we began this tradition, we also salute you for capturing such stunning images year after year. Your work is incredible!