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Popular social media personality Olivia Dunne and her LSU gymnastics team made history on April 20th when they won the first national championship in the school’s history.
Well, Dunne didn’t exactly, but she was on the team that won it.
She did compete in the NCAA Regional Second Round, averaging a score of 9.90 in the floor exercise to help LSU advance, but sat out the Regional Final, Semifinals, and NCAA Championships.
Despite not actually participating in the final three rounds of the NCAA gymnastics tournament, Olivia Dunne was the one that appeared on the Today show on Monday.
“You know what, it is still feeling just unreal,” Dunne said. “I’m still trying to get my voice back from cheering so loud. It was an unforgettable experience, and I’ll probably be thinking about it for the rest of my life.”
But is Dunne done? Livvy still has the option of coming back for a fifth year thanks to the pandemic.
Unlike Caitlin Clark, who is both a once in a lifetime talent and has a professional league to advance to, Dunne is more limited in her options.
“It definitely makes me want to come back, but I haven’t quite thought about it completely,” Dunne said. “I’ve just been focused on the now and winning this national title, so I’ll definitely start thinking about it.”
Perhaps the saga of the Cavinder twins Haley and Hanna will factor into Olivia Dunne’s decision.
Dunne was interviewed by the twins in 2022 at the height of their fame.
They chose to forego their fifth year of eligibility and after a year of becoming significantly less relevant decided to come back for another season of college basketball with the University of Miami this fall.
Dunne, however, has made a boatload of money already and is dating the first overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, Paul Skenes, so her situation is certainly different.
Throw in the fact that TikTok is under threat of being banned in the United States and Dunne has a tough decision ahead of her.
“If I’m being honest, I didn’t quite know that TikTok was going to get banned,” Dunne said. “I’ve just been training every day in the gym and just working on my gymnastics and doing what I love, and that’s what I love to focus on. I haven’t really thought about it too much.”