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Olivia Dunne Opens Up About Pressures of Growing Up in Competitive Gymnastics: ‘Perfection Isn’t Real’

The LSU star first stepped foot into a gym at the age of 3. Today, she is the highest-paid female NCAA athlete in the country.

Ananya Panchal

Olivia Dunne

Olivia Dunne.

NCAA athlete Olivia Dunne has been practicing gymnastics since she was 3. The 2024 SI Swimsuit rookie’s entire childhood consisted of the sport, and when she joined elite gymnastics, the pressure increased and the atmosphere intensified, as everyone’s goal was to make the Olympics. She joined the U.S. national team roster in 2017, and it was certainly an honor, but one that came with a lot of difficulty and the sacrifice of her normal teenage years. 

A few years later, she left the professional competition sphere and decided to accept a full-ride scholarship to LSU—a place where she could just be a college student while practicing the sport she loved.

Today, the 21-year-old is the highest-paid female college athlete in the country. She might not be competing on an international level, but she’s certainly making her mark on the world and becoming a trailblazer for students who want to capitalize off of their name, image and likeness.

“Growing up in the sport of gymnastics, you are constantly being judged,” she said in a powerful and moving new video with

Vuori

athletics, an activewear brand for which Dunne has been a longtime ambassador. “Being in the spotlight and having these eyes on you, you feel like you need to be perfect.”

“She has over 15 million followers, but is Livvy Dunne good for women’s sports?” a news broadcast voiceover asked in the clip, containing montages and videos of Dunne training, stretching, laughing with friends and competing on the floor, beam and bars.

“Everyone gets overwhelmed, so being able to have something that brings you to that moment of happiness and that moment of peace and bliss is essential,” she continued, in promotion of the company’s

BlissBlend

line. “I always come back to the simple things: connecting with nature and being around the people I love. Perfection isn’t real. But finding moments of bliss can be, I just have to look in the right places.”

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Ananya Panchal
ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit, where she covers fashion, beauty, pop culture and the internet’s favorite personalities and trends. She joined the brand in 2022 after roles at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. Panchal loves to write about fashion in all its forms—from standout runway moments and evolving street style to the best accessories to elevate each season’s wardrobe (she rarely goes anywhere without a stack of jewelry and a coffee in hand). A self-proclaimed beauty fanatic, she’s always on the hunt for must-have products and loves breaking down viral trends. Her favorite series at the moment is spotlighting female founders and the stories behind the brands they’ve built—especially those shaping the future of fashion, wellness and tech. She is based between New York City and San Francisco and, when she’s not writing, can be found rewatching One Tree Hill, playing sudoku, trying new restaurants or ranking her favorite Disney Channel Original Movies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism with a minor in criminal justice from Boston University.

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