Former USA national team member Olivia Dunne recently shared a fun video from the LSU Tigers locker room. As the captain of the gymnastics team at the facility, Dunne is gearing up to defend the NCAA title in the upcoming season.
The 22-year-old has established herself as one of the most popular gymnastics and social media faces in the United States. She has amassed over 14 million followers across her various social media platforms, with TikTok and Instagram being her top channels with 10 million and five million, respectively. Thanks to her strong personal brand, the LSU standout ranks second among the top earners in the NIL (name, image, likeness) with a net valuation of $4 million.
In addition, Dunne played a key role in the LSU gymnastics NCAA title win in April, marking the university's first-ever championship in the program's history. They outperformed California, Utah, and Florida to achieve the historic feat. Following the achievement, the New Jersey native will return for her fifth and final year of collegiate eligibility in 2025, with the season scheduled to kick off in January.
As she prepares for her final season, Olivia Dunne recently dropped a playful video on her Instagram where she performed a mannequin bit, standing still like a walking mannequin in her LSU Tigers leotard. The caption read, "POV: you bump into the person you just unfollowed." Alongside the video, Dunne wrote:
"Why does this always happen"
"Need to have tough skin to do gymnastics" - Olivia Dunne talks about the challenges of competing at the
highest level in the sport
In an interview with FLAUNT, Olivia Dunne opened up about the challenges, including the mental toughness and the inevitable criticism that comes with the sport. She emphasized that having a thick skin is essential for success in gymnastics.
"You have to have tough skin to do gymnastics or any artistic sport," she said via Flaunt. "I actually looked at a statistic, and it said anorexia and body image issues are the highest in artistic sports. That is terrible, but I understand it. Growing up in elite gymnastics, it was very hard with body image."
"Being a young girl going through puberty, it’s hard to be in a leotard. The whole sport of gymnastics is having people judge you, and I just think that’s something not a lot of people talk about," Dunne added.
Olivia Dunne also expressed her confidence in who she is and emphasized that she wants every girl to feel the same way.