Early Thursday morning, gymnast Sunisa Lee became the first Hmong American to win a gold medal for team USA. And just as her hometown community in Minnesota cheered her on, the San Joaquin Valley’s Hmong community was watching as well. Geri Yang-Johnson of Fresno has never met Sunisa Lee, but as a fellow Hmong-American, she says Lee feels like a little sister. That’s why she got up at 3:45am on Thursday to watch Lee compete. “Sunisa Lee represents all of us,” she said. “All of Hmong America was up early this morning cheering her on, and cheering team USA on in gymnastics.” Yang-Johnson says Lee has also been an inspiration for her 2-year-old daughter. “She wants the braid and the bun in the morning, she said she wants Sunisa hair, she’s going around telling people she’s in gymnastics even though she’s not,” she laughed. Blong Xiong, Executive Director of the Asian Business Institute and Research Center in Fresno, says his phone has been blowing up all day with text messages and
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