Olivia Dunne, who recently completed her senior year at LSU, was a huge part of the LSU Lady Tigers gymnastics team that made history by winning their first-ever NCAA Championship in April. Despite this milestone, Dunne has decided against pursuing Olympic qualification, focusing instead on her next career steps.
With less than 30 days remaining until the 2024 Paris Olympics, elite American gymnasts are competing for a place at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Thursday, June 27 to Sunday, June 30.
Olivia Dunne is done with the Olympics
Despite still considering her options for her remaining year of eligibility at LSU, Dunne has firmly stated that pursuing the Olympics is not part of her future plans.
“So I do have eligibility for a fifth year, which I haven’t decided yet,” Dunne told Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post. She discussed this while talking about her partnership with Purina Pro Plan, which includes her and her boyfriend Paul Skenes’ English cream retriever named Roux.
“I don’t think I’m going to try for the Olympics or anything after, since I once competed for Team USA and I closed that chapter and went to LSU,” she continued.
Dunne, along with Elena Arenas, Haleigh Bryant, and Chase Brock, were the four seniors on the 2023-24 gymnastics roster, which also featured seven graduate students.
The LSU Tigers clinched their first NCAA title with a score of 198.225, surpassing California (197.850), Utah (197.800), and Florida (197.4375) at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth back in April.
“The national championship, that was obviously the end goal,” Dunne noted.
“That was the cherry on top of my senior year. It’s just so cool to be able to make history like with my whole team.”
Olivia Dunne achieved a career-high score of 9.925 on bars in 2021 against Auburn and again in 2022 against Centenary. Additionally, she set a personal record of 9.90 on the floor, achieved against Alabama in 2022.
During Dunne's first four years at LSU, she achieved accolades including being named to the 2023 SEC Academic Honor Roll, 2022 SEC Academic Honor Roll, and 2021 WCGA All-American team, as well as earning recognition on the 2021 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Other career plans for Olivia Dunne
During an interview with “BFFs: Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards & Bri Chickenfry” in 2021, Dunne discussed her decision not to pursue Olympic dreams, citing an injury she suffered at a young age.
“That dream has died. Well I got hurt when I was about I think 15 or 16 years old, my bone had like died in my ankle and it fractured so I kind of realized maybe this is not for me anymore and maybe I should just go to college and be healthy and happy,” she said.
After completing her senior year at LSU, Dunne returned to her native New Jersey. However, she remains occupied with frequent travel for work as a social media influencer and model. Additionally, she manages a long-distance relationship with Paul Skenes, a pitcher for the Pirates and the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s MLB draft.
Dunne is undeniably one of the most popular gymnasts in the US, largely due to her enormous social media presence. With over 13 million followers on Instagram and TikTok combined, she has also become a prominent figure in the NIL era of college sports.
In 2024, she made her second consecutive appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
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