Olivia Dunne desires to have everything. Being ‘a role model’ for the young girls who look up to her is ‘one of the most important components’ of what Olivia Dunne wants to accomplish with her career, the 20-year-old gymnast tells PEOPLE as she shines in this month’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
I want to encourage women’s sports and make my mark on them, adds Olivia Dunne. I want to prove to other athletes, especially women, that you can have it all, she adds.
With nearly $3 million in sponsorship partnerships, Dunne, a junior at Louisiana State University, earns more than any other female athlete in the NIL.
An “incredible honour” that Olivia Dunne is not unaware of makes her one of the first college athletes to be printed in the coveted SI Swimsuit issue thanks to her spread. (This year’s edition will also include the first appearance of the lone other collegiate athlete in SI Swimsuit.)
I was honestly in amazement when I initially received the call, she admits. “That’s the most accurate way to put it. I contacted my mum right away after hanging up the phone while yelling and leaping about, and I believe I started crying.
According to MJ Day, the editor-in-chief of SI Swimsuit, Olivia Dunne was chosen because she “owned” her value as a woman and an athlete, despite receiving criticism for doing so throughout her climb to stardom.
“Typically, having a D1 athletic record, maintaining an A average, and being a hard-working entrepreneur is enough to get respect and recognition. But when you’re Livvy Dunne and you add being stunningly attractive to the mix, you unavoidably attract the wrath and fury of a particular specialised demographic,” Day claims. The criticism she faced once the NIL limits were relaxed for ‘leveraging’ her sexuality for endorsement money is unfounded. We are here to honour this extraordinary young woman and to call attention to Livvy and her fellow athletes for owning the sweat, blood, and tears that have powered a career of accomplishments.
OliviaDunne is moving in the right way because she has been featured in publications like SI Swimsuit. She expresses excitement about maybe following in the footsteps of some of her role models, such as Aly Raisman. In 2018, Raisman, 28, created her own swim spread for SI.
Gymnast Olivia Dunne SI Swimsuit
Dunne says of Raisman, “I just love everything she stands for.” She is one of my sports role models because she is a gymnast as well. She has also been a wonderful mentor to me.
Dunne believes that being a role model for females entails demonstrating that there are no constraints. In the words of Dunne, “I can be an athlete, I can be strong, I can be beautiful, I can be confident and sexy — and sometimes people don’t really realise that.”
She was reminded that she “can have the best of both worlds,” OliviaDunne recalls, by that realisation.
Whether OliviaDunne is winning on the mat or bringing fans along with her during daily routines, her millions of social media supporters turn to her for confidence. OliviaDunne believes that her followers’ admiration of her unwavering dedication and diligence is the reason for her success.
“It’s doing what you love every single day,” she claims. So for me, it includes gymnastics, spending time with my team buddies, communicating with my family every day, and studying and learning.
OliviaDunne claims she felt “so confident” when working with photographer Ben Watts to shoot the issue in Puerto Rico. Everyone on the set was incredibly nice and simply wanted to make me feel better.
Surprisingly, Dunne claims that when she’s on the mat in a bikini as opposed to a leotard, she feels differently in front of the camera. OliviaDunne says, “When I’m in a leotard, I’m completely simply thinking about my sport.
“And then, when I shot for SI, I honestly just felt so confident. I love what the whole brand stands for and how they pick up women and make them feel so confident,” she continues.