"Gymnastics is definitely not as big as baseball" - Olivia Dunne draws difference between two sports while posing for GQ with boyfriend Paul Skenes

Artistic gymnast Olivia Dunne recently compared gymnastics and baseball as she posed for GQ's photoshoot along with her boyfriend Paul Skenes, a professional baseball player. Days after posing for SI swimsuit for her third appearance, Dunne showed up for the GQ shoot ahead of the 2025 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regional Championships.

Dunne joined the LSU gymnastics program in 2020. She had amassed a significant following on social media before joining the program, as she kept posting her routines on TikTok, which she performed on a beach. However, the gymnast faced the challenge of growing her online presence and collaborating with brands during COVID-19. Dunne returned to the purple and gold squad in 2022 as a sophomore.

Following the NCAA NIL policy, Dunne became one of the highest-paid collegiate female athletes. In an interview with GQ, she highlighted the difference between baseball and gymnastics, opining that while gymnastics is a niche, injury-ridden sport with limited visibility, baseball has a huge fanbase and offers extensive financial opportunities through NIL deals.

"Gymnastics is a niche community," Dunne said. "It really is. And it’s definitely not as big as baseball, but I wanted to be able to make my brand bigger than just going to the Olympics.”

Dunne has signed a number of NIL deals with well-known brands, including SI Swimsuit. She previously revealed her goal of helping female collegiate athletes navigate the NIL deals.

Olivia Dunne opens up on the shift in her approach from aiming for the Olympics to the collegiate circuit

Olivia Dunne of the LSU Tigers during the SEC Women's Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo via Getty Images)

In the same interview with GQ.com, Olivia Dunne opened up about the transition in her approach from wanting to compete at the Olympics to the collegiate circuit. Dunne said after years of intense training, she reconsidered her decision and realized she could still live her goals of traveling and gaining fame without putting her physical health at risk.

“I wanted to go to the Olympics, compete for the USA, and make the USA National Team and wear the USA gear and just go to different countries and stuff,” she said. “I figured that would be cool.”

“It was cool to me that people got to travel and be on TV and do all these cool things when it came to the Olympics. But I was like, I wonder if I can still do cool things like that but not have to go to the Olympics to attain those goals and those cool things," she added.

Olivia Dunne is poised to compete at the upcoming NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regional Championships.