For the Hmong people of Massachusetts, Sunisa ‘Suni’ Lee’s Tokyo Olympic performance has generated a tremendous outpouring of pride.

Lee, 18, became the first Asian and Hmong American to win the individual all-around gold medal in women’s gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics last Thursday, and she may win more hardware this week.

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“Everyone is so proud of Suni for what she’s done,” said Michael Khang, president of the United Hmong of Massachusetts.

Michael Khang’s uncle founded the organization to support other Hmong refugees after he immigrated to the U.S in the early 1970s.

The 2010 U.S. Census reported that there were about 260,000 Hmong people living in the U.S. Khang estimated that there are 1,500 Hmong people in Massachusetts, mostly clustered in the Fitchburg area. He said Lee’s win was an “eye-opener” to them because it allowed them to envision greater possibilities for the future.

Hmong is an ethnic group from southern China that moved to the mountains of Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand in the 1800s, according to the Hmong American Center. As communism strengthened in southeast Asia, the U.S. enlisted the help of the Hmong people in a “secret war” in the 1960s to fight against it.

Many Hmong people died in the fighting and others became refugees as the communist regime took over Laos in 1975.

“It’s crazy how different our lives are compared to our parents,” said Megan Khang, a professional golfer from Massachusetts who became the first Hmong American to join to LPGA.

Like Suni Lee’s parents, hers also came to the U.S. as refugees.

Many Hmong who migrated faced hardship and Lee’s family was no exception; and the family has faced recent hardships as well.

Lee lost her aunt and uncle during the pandemic and nursed an ankle injury in 2020 before the Olympic Games. Her father also suffered from a paralyzing spinal cord injury days before she competed at the 2019 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, where she placed second in the all-around.

“Her win was definitely inspiring in the sense of like she’s the first Hmong American Olympian,” Megan Khang told GBH News. “She’s so young. She’s so mature in that setting and I just love how it shines a light, a brighter light, on the Hmong American culture.”

Lee was taken aback by her win. She expected a silver going into the games because her teammate and gold medal favorite Simone Biles was competing in Tokyo.

Biles withdrew from the all-around competition Wednesday to care for her mental health. In Instagram posts Friday she said she is battling “the twisties,” a mental state where gymnasts lose their sense of direction while in the air.

Biles withdrew from the uneven bars and vault individual finals late Friday, but she can still compete in the floor and balance beam finals.

“The whole thing has just been so surreal,” Lee said on NBC. She dedicated her gold medal to her family and Hmong community in Minnesota, whom she said she couldn’t have achieved the milestone without.

Megan Khang is accustomed to the same support from the Massachusetts Hmong community, who she described as “essentially family.”

“It’s such a great feeling knowing that you have a group of people there you don’t necessarily see all of the time, but you know that they’re there supporting you,” she said.

Lee is expected to compete this week in the uneven bars and balance beam individual event finals, where she could medal again.

Update: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article stated that Megan and Michael Khang are not related. They are in fact cousins.