Less than two years ago, Sunny Choi was living a double life of working in corporate America during the day and off at night. Then Taekwondo was announced as an official Olympic sport, and Choi knew this was the moment and the opportunity was too good to pass up. As a child, she dreamed of competing in the Olympics as a gymnast. Now, at age 35, she’s competing IRL as a member of Team USA’s first ever breakout team— and Wander the virtual universe as a digital avatar in the new Olympic-themed Roblox game.
Mashable spoke briefly with Sunny less than a week before she left for Paris.
How to Make the Most of the Peacock Olympics
Hi Sonny! You are part of a new Olympic-themed Roblox game. Have you played Roblox before?
I knew about Roblox because my nieces played it, but I had never played it. In fact, my sister-in-law said my nieces would probably be more excited about me competing in Roblox than competing in the Olympics.
You just gave your nieces priceless bragging rights in school.
That’s basically what my sister-in-law said. “They will be very excited when they know it!” To be honest, I didn’t get to experience it myself because I was a little busy. [laughs] But I’m glad because I did see both expressions [a Roblox avatar animation] My breakout was so cute. One of them in particular, if you knew my moves, you would definitely recognize it was me.
How would you describe the action depicted in this expression?
It’s like a signature move and I don’t know anyone else who’s done anything like it. Some of my signature moves have names – like I have a move I call “Witchy” – but this one doesn’t. just a long series of actions [and actually] That’s the name, just because it helps me remember it.
Popular stories that can be mixed and matched
In this part, I’m going to do a one-handed backwards walk like a gymnast, but in a circle. This reminds me of the gymnastics move “Valdez” so I call it the “Valdez Hand Step” because I actually land on my hands and then I grab my feet and throw them to the air.
Isn’t the gaming term “noob” also used in the cracking community?
Yes, it means the same thing: become a beginner. I started breaking with people at Penn Engineering, so they probably use that word more than other people in the breaking community because I don’t hear it that often.
You served as Estée Lauder’s Global Skin Care Creative Operations Director before resigning in January 2023 to work full-time.
That life was actually really, really challenging, and I was lucky enough to make the decision to pursue my passion and quit my corporate job. If I don’t, I either have to find a job where I can work fewer hours or I need to take fewer breaks because it’s getting to the point where it’s unsustainable. I wake up at six in the morning, go to the gym, then go to work at my corporate job in New York City – which is not just 9 to 5, by the way – then log off, change clothes, go to practice, and I answer emails and Slack, go home, finish work, go to bed, sleep for six hours if you’re lucky, and do it all again. So it was definitely very, very tough.
I wouldn’t recommend trying to work full time and pursue another passion to get to that level. I think it’s possible to still work a full-time job and then be passionate about something. But I think pursuing it at the Olympic level will definitely be challenging. You don’t have any sense of balance. You have no time for anything else, including yourself. You don’t have any downtime. Whenever I had a break, I was too exhausted to really enjoy it.
How to Make the Most of the Peacock Olympics
Will you participate in other sports events at the Olympics?
We can apply to get tickets to other events, but I probably won’t know what my schedule looks like until I get there. I’m assuming I won’t be the only athlete wanting to watch other events [laughs]. I don’t know how that process works, but I do think they encourage athletes to go to other sports.
I do see athletes in some sports. I have never been exposed to water polo, but only [Team USA water polo player] Ashleigh Johnson, she’s really cool, so I want to watch her. Rugby sevens looks really cool and I’d love to see the women’s team play. I only care about women’s sports, so by the way, we’re just talking about women here. And, of course, gymnastics. I’ve always loved diving, so maybe diving will work out there. Those are at the top of my list.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
