Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee says she was a recent target of anti-Asian hate … claiming she was pepper-sprayed and had racist slurs hurled at her in Los Angeles.
18-year-old Lee detailed the altercation in an interview with Pop Sugar released this week … saying she was waiting for an Uber with her friends — all of Asian descent — after a night out, when a car sped by and yelled phrases like “ching chong” and “go back to where they came from.”
Lee — the first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist — says one person even sprayed her arm with pepper spray before speeding off.
The “Dancing with the Stars” contestant opened up on the incident — which happened a week before the interview — saying, “I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off,” she told the outlet.
The number of hate crimes directed at Asians in America has risen in recent years … with a study at California State University, San Bernardino reporting a 150% increase in 2020.
“I didn’t do anything to them,” Lee added, “and having the reputation, it’s so hard because I didn’t want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen.”
Fellow athletes Jeremy Lin and Yu Chang have also spoken out recently about hatred directed their way … with the NBAer claiming he was called “coronavirus” on the court, and the Cleveland Guardians infielder getting flooded with racist DMs after a game.