STUTTGART, Germany — As Sunisa Lee heard the national anthem play for her first world championship gold medal, her thoughts were back home in St. Paul.

Just two months have passed since Lee’s father John injured his spine in a fall while helping to trim a tree. He is undergoing rehab after suffering partial paralysis.

“It was amazing. I almost started crying. It just feels so surreal and I can’t even believe that I’m here and I’m a world champion now. That’s so crazy for me,” Lee said after being part of the winning U.S. women’s all-around team. “(I was) just thinking about the whole routine and my dad. I’m just super proud of this team.”

The 16-year-old from St. Paul is at her first world championships after placing second to Simone Biles at U.S. nationals in August, days after her father was injured. She won national gold on the uneven bars, the only athlete other than Biles to win an individual event.

Lee’s father is following her progress closely.

“I FaceTimed him last night and he’s telling me that he’s super excited and proud, and he even woke up super early this morning just to watch,” she said Tuesday.

Lee competed on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor. She showed resilience to recover from slipping off the beam — saying “the nerves got to me” after a long wait at the apparatus — to post the day’s third-best score on the floor behind Biles and fellow American Jade Carey.

After a whirlwind two months, Lee is still adapting to being on the U.S. national team alongside athletes like Biles, now a 21-time world championship medalist.

“A bunch of them have been helping me a lot. Just because I’m the rookie, they’ve been giving me a lot of pep talks and stuff like that,” she said. “I look up to Simone so much. She’s super inspiring and such an amazing gymnast. It’s definitely been a crazy ride, and I’m super excited to compete in the all-around with her.”

Biles won a record 21st medal at the meet and her 15th career gold, breaking a tie with Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina for the most medals overall by a woman at the world championships. She’s now two short of Vitaly Scherbo’s all-time record of 23 among men or women.

The U.S. team scored 172.330 points to beat second-place Russia by 5.801 points and win its seventh consecutive team title at an Olympics or world championships.

The reward for winning was a battery-powered medal that lights up when it senses movement. Biles called it “the sickest medal we’ve ever had.”

Biles posted the best individual scores on the vault, balance beam and floor.

“I think if I do the routine that I did tonight I’ll be more than happy” in Thursday’s individual all-around final, she said.

A fall for Lee on balance beam in her world championship debut and a fumbled routine from Grace McCallum of Cambridge, Minn., on the uneven bars left the U.S. with room for improvement, though both were strong on other apparatus.

“It’s just so surreal to come out here and end up on top with the strength of the team that we have, even after having a couple falls out there,” Biles said.

Russia became the first team to get within six points of the U.S. since China at the 2015 world championships, something which pleased Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova.

“We’re happy that we got second because we can’t battle the Americans just yet, but today the gap was significantly lower than at the last few world championships,” Melnikova said. Related Articles Otto Bremer Trust case returns to court on Wednesday

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Biles said other teams were “most definitely” closing in on the U.S. “All of the teams have improved their difficulty over the last quad, and I think that’s really exciting to see the strength that they have.”

Italy ended its 69-year wait for a women’s team medal with bronze, as China failed to make the podium for the first time since the 2003 world championships.

China was fourth after a tough day for Liu Tingting, who fell twice on the uneven bars and again on the balance beam.