"The whole sport of gymnastics is having people judge you"- Olivia Dunne opens up on struggles with body image despite being confident in herself

Olivia Dunne opened up about the dark side of gymnastics, which subjects the athletes to body image-related criticism and dims their competitive spirit. The social media personality also talked about feeling confident but struggling with some parts of it even now.

Dunne has been associated with gymnastics since she was three years old when a pink sparkly leotard piqued her interest. By nine, she was selected in the regionals and qualified as a Junior International Elite in the 2013-14 season. She was named in the US team that participated in the 2017 Junior Jesolo Trophy competition and won the team gold.

Now an LSU gymnast in her fifth year, Olivia Dunne contributed scores to lead the Tigers' team to a couple of podium finishes. She twice matched her career-high of 9.9 on the floor and was part of the team that won its first-ever title at the 2024 NCAA Championships. Besides gymnastics, she also amassed massive social media fame, owing to the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeliness) deals.

Despite her success, Dunne's journey was marred by body image-related struggles since the body standards of artistic gymnastics often subject the gymnasts to people's judgments.

"I actually looked at a statistic, and it said anorexia and body image issues are the highest in artistic sports. That is terrible, but I understand it. Growing up in elite gymnastics, it was very hard with body image," she said, via Flaunt.

She continued:

"Being a young girl going through puberty, it’s hard to be in a leotard. The whole sport of gymnastics is having people judge you, and I just think that’s something not a lot of people talk about. Yes, I’m confident in myself, but it’s something I still struggle with to this day."

The sudden rise to fame came at the cost of her security but Dunne continues to stay true and advocate for herself.

Olivia Dunne revealed how most money from the NIL deals goes to men's sports

Olivia Dunne in a competition between LSU and Florida - Source: Getty

The NIL rule was introduced to allow NCAA athletes to monetize their Name, Image, and Likeliness. Olivia Dunne, the athlete who once earned $500k from a single social media post, secured lucrative endorsement deals to become one of the highest-paid college athletes.

However, most of her college money, despite the NIL update, goes to football, basketball, and baseball - the men's sports, as noted by Dunne in Flaunt.

"Women’s sports, in general, it’s quite unfair still with NIL. A big school like LSU [has] collective money. None of it goes to women’s sports. Most of the collective money goes to football, basketball, baseball—the men’s sports," she said.

Dunne launched The Livvy Fund in July 2023, to help her fellow female athletes to earn from brand endorsements as well.