LSU’s Olivia Dunne staying sharp in offseason, pulls off backflip on beach
LSU gymnastics star Olivia Dunne showed there is no real offseason in the sport as even on the Memorial Day weekend holiday she had to stay flexible with a maneuver on the beach.
The New Jersey native was in a black bikini when she posted one of her latest videos on TikTok to her more than 7.4 million followers. Dunne performed an impressive backflip off a rock.
“some beach-nastics to start the summer off right,” she captioned the video.
The video received more than 330,000 likes in just a few hours.
Dunne has already had an incredible offseason. She signed another name, image and likeness deal – this time with Sports Illustrated – and will appear in the magazine’s swimsuit edition for the first time.
She traveled to Puerto Rico in January to shoot for the magazine just ahead of the Tigers finishing in fourth place in the NCAA Gymnastics Championships to cap off an unbelievable season.
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“Being a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model is a dream come true,” Dunne said in a video posted to the publication’s Instagram page. “There’s a lot of young girls who look up to me, and I feel like a lot of young girls also follow Sports Illustrated. So, both of our brands, I think, align because we both want to inspire the younger generation.”
Dunne is among the college athletes with the highest NIL valuations, according to On3 Sports. She also spoke with Sports Illustrated about being at the forefront of the NIL craze.
“As a woman, no one really expected a gymnast to be at the forefront of (name, image and likeness deals),” she told the publication. “Most people expected football, baseball, basketball. To be a woman at the forefront, and trying to make the playing field more level, is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Dunne made clear to younger women that “you are more than just your sport.”
Dunne will be entering her senior season later this year.
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