The 18-year-old - who won the women's individual all-around title at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics - said she was targeted while with a group of friends in a drive-by incident in the California city a few weeks ago, while filming for celebrity television dance competition Dancing With the Stars.

While waiting for a taxi, Lee and her friends were racially abused and told to "go back to where they came from", with the gymnast stating someone in the car pepper-sprayed her arm before speeding away.

"I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off," said Lee to PopSugar.

"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 is part of the Hmong ethnic group, whose people largely live in Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and southern China.

She is the first Hmong American to represent the United States at the Olympics, having debuted at Tokyo 2020.

Lee's parents came to the US from Laos, settling in St. Paul in Minnesota, which has the highest population of Hmong people in the country.

Attacks on Asian-Americans have been on the rise during the pandemic, with the New York Police Department reporting that hate crimes motivated by anti-Asian sentiment had jumped by 1,900 per cent.

COVID-19 first originated in China in late 2019, before the outbreak started in January and February 2020.

During her debut at the Olympics, Lee also won a team silver medal and the bronze in the uneven bars.

She is one of six contestants left in this season's Dancing With the Stars.