Olivia Dunne is an American artistic gymnast and social media influencer. She was a member of the USA national gymnastics team in 2017. She trains at ENA Paramus under Craig and Jennifer Zappa. Her favorite event is the uneven bars. In 2020, she began attending Louisiana State University and started competing for their gymnastics team in the NCAA.
Dunne made her debut at the U.S. Classic in 2014, placing 20th on the floor, 33rd in the all-around, 35th on bars, 36th on vault, and 39th on beam. She could not advance to the National Championships with those results. The following year, she competed at the American Classic, placing 6th on floor, 8th in the all-around, 9th on beam, 15th on bars, and 18th on vault.
She returned to the U.S. Classic, where she placed 12th on the floor, 14th on beam, 24th in the all-around, 13th on bars, and 34th on vault. This time she advanced to her first National Championships, where she placed 21st on the floor, 23rd on bars and beam, 25th in the all-around, and 27th on vault.
In 2016, Dunne started off her season at the U.S. Classic in June, placing 13th on the floor, 14th on beam, 23rd on bars, 24th in the all-around, and 33rd on vault. At the National Championships later that month, she placed 6th on floor, 8th on beam, 12th in the all-around, 21st on bars, and 22nd on vault. In 2017, Dunne was named to the National Team at the March training camp.
Her first international assignment was the City of Jesolo Trophy in April, where she won team gold and came 6th in the all-around. She only competed on “bars and beam” at the American Classic, but competed in all four events at the U.S. Classic.
In the U.S. Classic, she placed 5th in the all-around, 6th on beam and floor, 11th on bars, and 22nd on vault. Dunne competed at the National Championships in August, placing 7th on beam, 8th on floor, 9th in the all-around and on uneven bars, and 15th on vault. She was not added back to the National Team.
Dunne turned senior in 2018. Although the United States did not send a team to the 2018 City of Jesolo Trophy, Dunne represented her club. She finished 15th in the all-around. She only competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic on uneven bars because of an ankle injury. Dunne was allowed to compete in the National Championships because of a petition. She ended up placing 18th in the all-around.
During the 2019 season, Dunne did not compete because of her injuries. In November, Dunne officially signed her National Letter of Intent with Louisiana State University, which will begin its 2020–21 season. Dunne dropped to Level 10 to qualify for the 2020 Nastia Liukin Cup. She ended up placing 11th.
Dunne joined the LSU Tigers gymnastics team in 2020. The uneven bars were a part of every regular-season meet. Her NCAA debut came in a meet against Arkansas, where she scored 9.875. The NQS was 9.9 on bars when she entered the postseason.
At the SEC Championships, she scored 9.9 on the uneven bars, which helped LSU finish second. Her score at the NCAA Championships semi-finals was 9.9. LSU did not advance to the final.
Dunne competed on the uneven bars in every regular-season meet and also competed five times on the floor exercise. During the opening meet against Centenary, she matched her career-high of 9.925 on the uneven bars. She earned a score of 9,800 in her collegiate debut on the floor on January 28. At the SEC Championships, she contributed a 9.875 on uneven bars, but LSU finished in fifth place overall because of a fall on that event.
During the NCAA regional semifinals, she achieved scores of 9.85 on uneven bars and 9.9 on floor exercise. LSU experienced two uncharacteristic falls on the balance beam, which resulted in the team being eliminated from the postseason during the first round of regionals. As a result, the team was unable to qualify for the national championship as a team for the first time since 2011.
As of February 11, 2023, Dunne has yet to compete in the 2023 season because of injuries, such as two torn labrums, a torn bicep, and a stress reaction in her leg.
She has achieved all of this while also being a social media influencer. In an interview by NYpost with Dunne, a lot was revealed about the sports influencer. She is profiting off the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness rule change, and securing brand deals with the help of her 7.2 million followers on TikTok and 3.7 million on Instagram.
“I don’t feel too much pressure because doing social media is always something that I’ve loved, and I’ve always taken it pretty seriously,” she says. “At times, I can get overwhelmed with how busy things are, but I don’t feel pressure on a day-to-day basis.”
Dunne said she noticed a large jump in her Instagram and TikTok following when the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020. She revealed in the interview - “I was quarantined in Florida and I just started making content at the beach, doing flips and filming it. My videos started to get on the ‘for you’ page a lot more, so more people saw them … and it took off,” Dunne said. “Then I went to LSU and the Louisiana following — they’re the best.”
In June 2021, the NCAA overturned its rules prohibiting athletes from selling their names, image, and likenesses-which means that college athletes can now profit off themselves, without sacrificing their sports eligibility.
“The NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rule change has always been a dream of mine, and I didn’t know if it was actually ever going to happen. I think it’s great for female student-athletes in gymnastics like myself because there is really no professional league after college so that we can capitalize on our opportunities right now. It’s such a special thing. It’s like I’m part of history, all of us student-athletes are. I actually think taking social media so seriously is what separates me in this space,” said Dunne. Her Tigers team finished the 2021 regular season and came third in the nationals, while also competing at the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships.
“When I was 10, I took it so seriously and people were always like, ‘Why are you doing this?’ But I love it. It has benefited me in the end.” Dunne is now one of the few women projected to be among the highest-earning student-athletes, thanks to the NCAA’s new regulations.
Dunne, is now, the highest-valued women's college athlete with an estimated NIL valuation of $3.3 million. In February 2023, she reported to Today that her endorsement deals totaled seven figure sums.
During the opening meet of the season at Utah on January 6, 2023, a large group of fans, mostly teenage boys, attended to support Dunne. Several of these fans were reported to have harassed members of both gymnastics teams and journalists both during and after the meet. Because of this, LSU hired more security staff for the team and put in place more safety measures, such as stopping LSU gymnasts from going into the stands after a meet. Following the incident, Dunne posted a statement to Twitter requesting that her fans be more respectful.
Dunne shared a sponsored video on TikTok on February 27, 2023, where she promoted Caktus AI while mentioning her need for inspiration to complete an essay due at midnight. The video displayed her utilizing the service to generate an essay, followed by a surprised reaction from Dunne, and ended with the statement “Cactus.AI > ChatGPT”. LSU responded with a statement emphasizing their support for technology in education but also warning about the potential consequences of using AI to produce work and passing it off as one's own, which could be considered academic misconduct according to the Code of Student Conduct.
Olivia Dunne’s net worth is estimated to be $6 million. Most of Dunne’s earnings come from her social media presence, her career in sports, and numerous brand deals.
On TikTok, the creator could potentially earn upwards of an estimated $10k per post, excluding brand-sponsored deals. On Instagram, she could possibly make upwards of an estimated $10k for a brand-sponsored post, depending on the brand.
Her career in sports has also been very fruitful, with numerous placements in state-level competitions, but the amount she has earned over time is currently unavailable.
When it comes to brand deals, she signed with WME Sports for representation in August, and announced her first exclusive brand partnership in September, with activewear brand Vuori. More long-term deals followed, with brands such as American Eagle, PlantFuel (a protein and supplements company), and Bartleby (a study tool and homework helper for college students, owned by Barnes & Noble).
Dunne has also secured one-off deals with TooFaced cosmetics, GrubHub, Madden/EA Sports, and the Nate app. How much she has earned from these brand deals specifically is still unavailable, however, according to reports, Dunne earned close to $2 million from brand deals in 2022. Dunne has modelled for numerous magazines, like Sports Illustrated.
Dunne was born in Westwood, New Jersey on October 1, 2002, and raised in Hillsdale, New Jersey. She started training in gymnastics when she was three years old. She has parents named Katherine and David and a sister Julianna who plays softball. She was homeschooled by her mom, and she is currently an LSU sophomore student.
Dunne writes on her website - “I love fashion design. I especially enjoy participating in the design of my custom leotards. I get to work on everything from the original sketches to fabric selection with my coach, Jen. It is so exciting when the finished designs win leotard contests and online polls. I love to see my ideas come to life.”
It was reported that she was dating Theo Millas, but there are no confirmed reports of this. According to some rumors, she was in a relationship with Josh Richard. This rumor gained friction when Josh posted a video with her on YouTube. Fans were swift to assume that something romantic was brewing between the two. We can assume that Dunne is currently single. There is no other information about her past relationships.
Here’s a list of Dunne’s achievements over her gymnast career -
2020, Nastia Liukin Cup, Milwaukee, Wis. -
2018, U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Boston, Mass.
2018, GK U.S. Classic, Columbus, Ohio -
2017, P&G Championships, Anaheim, Calif. - 7th-BB; 8th-FX(T); 9th-AA (Jr. Div.)
2017, U.S. Classic, Chicago, Ill. - 5th-AA(T); 6th-BB, FX (Jr. Div.)
2016, P&G Championships, St. Louis, Mo. - 6th-FX; 8th-BB (Jr. Div.)
2016, Secret U.S. Classic, Hartford, Conn. - (Jr. Div.)
2015, P&G Championships, Indianapolis, Ind. - (Jr. Div.)
2015, Secret U.S. Classic, Chicago, Ill. - (Jr. Div.)
2015, American Classic, Huntsville, TX - 8th-AA, 6th Floor
2014, Secret U.S. Classic, Chicago, Ill. - (Jr. Div.)
A fashion video by Dunne.
A video titled - “I had to go after her at every event…”
A brand collab with Vuori.
A video titled “Jacked”.
Olivia doing a lip sync dance video.
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