Olivia Dunne gets emotional with childhood picture as she bids goodbye to gymnastics after final NCAA season with LSU

Olivia Dunne got emotional as she bid goodbye to her gymnastics career after her final NCAA season with the LSU Tigers. Opening up about her retirement, the youngster shared a snap of her childhood self and penned a short note reflecting on her journey.

Dunne led an impressive career on the junior elite level, making it to the national team. Her best results included a sixth-place finish in the all-around at the 2017 City of Jesolo Trophy. In 2020, the American signed with the LSU Tigers for her collegiate career, and has gone on to become one of the most well-known faces of NCAA gymnastics.

Over this past weekend, the Tigers competed at the 2025 National Championships, where they failed to make it to the finals. As a result, Dunne, who was competing in her fifth and final season with the team, has officially retired from gymnastics.

On Saturday, April 19, Olivia Dunne shared a snap of her childhood self in the gym, sporting a pink leotard and holding a trophy. Reflecting on her journey in the sport, she wrote:

“gymnastics, I will love u forever."

Via @livvydunne on Instagram

For Dunne, her collegiate career came to a bittersweet end as she was unable to compete in the season’s last few meets due to a knee injury.

Olivia Dunne opens up about her future after gymnastics

Dunne at an LSU meet (Image Source: Getty)

Outside of gymnastics, Olivia Dunne is a social media influencer. The youngster first rose to fame when she began sharing videos of herself flipping on beaches in 2020. Since then, she has garnered a large following on social media and has become the highest-paid female NIL athlete.

Opening up about her goals after gymnastics, Dunne told the New York Post that she hopes to continue working in the sports realm, saying:

“I've always loved sports so (I) definitely (want to do) something in the sports realm. I have a fund at LSU called the ‘Livvy fund’ and it's to help the female student athletes at LSU get NIL deals. Because that's sometimes half the battle, girls don't know where to start and it's very important to capitalize on your NIL while you're in college if you're a female, because there's not a lot of professional leagues after college for most women's sports.

"So I definitely want to do something in the NIL realm after I'm done at LSU and hopefully expand beyond LSU and help educate people and just help girls out.”

As Olivia Dunne explores new adventures after gymnastics, fans will no doubt be cheering her on in this new chapter of her life.