Sunisa Lee, who is an American artistic gymnast and won gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games this year, revealed a horrific story when she was pepper-sprayed in an apparent anti-Asian attack.&nbsp;

During an interview with media outlet PopSugar, which was published on Wednesday, Lee opened up on a range of topics — from her journey so far to aiming to win more medals; and also talked about coping with cruel realities of anti-Asian hate in America.&nbsp;

Anti-Asian hate in the United States has been fueled by COVID-19 misinformation in recent times. During the interview, the 18-year-old gymnast revealed the incident when she was out with friends in Los Angeles.&nbsp;

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They were waiting for a cab ride when a car drove by and people sitting inside&nbsp;of the vehicle were shouting slurs. They pepper-sprayed on her arm as the car sped away.&nbsp;

"I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off. I didn't do anything to them, 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," Lee, who is of Hmong descent, recalled the incident which happened in October.&nbsp;

At the Tokyo Games, Lee won women's all-around gymnastics gold succeeding defending champion Simone Biles after she withdrew. She also won team silver and individual bronze on uneven bars at the event.&nbsp;

Lee says she grew up in the Hmong community in St Paul, Minnesota and her parents emigrated from Laos before she was even born. &nbsp;Lee is currently appearing on ABC television's "Dancing With the Stars" competition program.&nbsp;

Sunisa Lee, who is an American artistic gymnast and won gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games this year, revealed a horrific story when she was pepper-sprayed in an apparent anti-Asian attack.

Sunisa Lee, who is an American artistic gymnast and won gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games this year, revealed a horrific story when she was pepper-sprayed in an apparent anti-Asian attack. During an interview with media outlet PopSugar, which was published on Wednesday, Lee opened up on a range of topics — from her journey so far to aiming to win more medals; and also talked about coping with cruel realities of anti-Asian hate in America. Anti-Asian hate in the United States has been fueled by COVID-19 misinformation in recent times. During the interview, the 18-year-old gymnast revealed the incident when she was out with friends in Los Angeles. ALSO READ | Joe Biden to attend Beijing Winter Olympics? Report says he might get a personal invitation from Xi Jinping They were waiting for a cab ride when a car drove by and people sitting inside of the vehicle were shouting slurs. They pepper-sprayed on her arm as the car sped away. "I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off. I didn't do anything to them, 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," Lee, who is of Hmong descent, recalled the incident which happened in October. At the Tokyo Games, Lee won women's all-around gymnastics gold succeeding defending champion Simone Biles after she withdrew. She also won team silver and individual bronze on uneven bars at the event. Lee says she grew up in the Hmong community in St Paul, Minnesota and her parents emigrated from Laos before she was even born. Lee is currently appearing on ABC television's "Dancing With the Stars" competition program.

Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee says she was pepper-sprayed in racist attack: 'There was nothing I could do'

Sunisa Lee claimed the coveted all-around gold medal many expected to see go to her United States teammate Simone Biles on Thursday, as the Tokyo&nbsp;Olympics&nbsp;gymnastics competition moved on without its biggest star.

With Biles watching from the front row at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Lee clinched gold in the all-around to secure the title for the United States for a fifth consecutive Games on the final rotation - the floor exercise - to post a winning total of 57.433.

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Surprise package 22-year-old Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who had topped the rankings most of the evening, grabbed the silver for her country's first-ever medal in women's gymnastics.

Russian Angelina Melnikova completed the podium taking the bronze for the ROC.

Considered heir apparent to Biles, 18-year-old Lee had her moment arrive sooner than expected.

Simone Biles, the winner of every all-around competition she entered since 2013, threw the fight for the Olympic gold wide open when she decided not to defend her Rio Games all-around title having dropped out of the team event on Tuesday after one poor vault citing the need to focus on her mental health.

Biles had already dropped out of the team event on Tuesday after one poor vault, citing the need to focus on her mental health.

It all added up to another thriller at the Ariake arena that has seen almost every medal decided by the final athlete in the final rotation.

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As the gymnasts marched over to the floor only 0.201 separated the top three of Lee, Andrade and 16-year-old Russian Vladislava Urazova, leaving everything to play for.

Lee, the youngest member of the U.S. team, put down a marker in the floor exercise with a score of 13.700 but she had left the door open a crack for Andrade to snatch the gold.

But the Brazilian, who had looked so poised, finally cracked by stepping out on her first tumbling run and then did so a second time, scoring 13.666, with the mistakes likely costing her the gold.

As the scores flashed on the scoreboard to confirm Lee's win her U.S. team mates sitting in the stands leapt and cheered.

Sunisa Lee claimed the coveted all-around gold medal many expected to see go to her United States teammate Simone Biles on Thursday, as the Tokyo Olympics gymnastics competition moved on without its biggest star.

Sunisa Lee claimed the coveted all-around gold medal many expected to see go to her United States teammate Simone Biles on Thursday, as the Tokyo Olympics gymnastics competition moved on without its biggest star. With Biles watching from the front row at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Lee clinched gold in the all-around to secure the title for the United States for a fifth consecutive Games on the final rotation - the floor exercise - to post a winning total of 57.433. ALSO READ: Tokyo Olympics: German cycling sports director sent home after racist remarks Surprise package 22-year-old Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who had topped the rankings most of the evening, grabbed the silver for her country's first-ever medal in women's gymnastics. Russian Angelina Melnikova completed the podium taking the bronze for the ROC. Considered heir apparent to Biles, 18-year-old Lee had her moment arrive sooner than expected. Simone Biles, the winner of every all-around competition she entered since 2013, threw the fight for the Olympic gold wide open when she decided not to defend her Rio Games all-around title having dropped out of the team event on Tuesday after one poor vault citing the need to focus on her mental health. Biles had already dropped out of the team event on Tuesday after one poor vault, citing the need to focus on her mental health. It all added up to another thriller at the Ariake arena that has seen almost every medal decided by the final athlete in the final rotation. ALSO READ: Tokyo Olympics: German cycling sports director sent home after racist remarks As the gymnasts marched over to the floor only 0.201 separated the top three of Lee, Andrade and 16-year-old Russian Vladislava Urazova, leaving everything to play for. Lee, the youngest member of the U.S. team, put down a marker in the floor exercise with a score of 13.700 but she had left the door open a crack for Andrade to snatch the gold. But the Brazilian, who had looked so poised, finally cracked by stepping out on her first tumbling run and then did so a second time, scoring 13.666, with the mistakes likely costing her the gold. As the scores flashed on the scoreboard to confirm Lee's win her U.S. team mates sitting in the stands leapt and cheered.

Tokyo Olympics: Sunisa Lee grabs all-around gold for US as Simone Biles watches on

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Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee says she was pepper-sprayed in racist attack: 'There was nothing I could do'

Tokyo Olympics: Sunisa Lee grabs all-around gold for US as Simone Biles watches on