Influencer and gymnast Olivia Dunne shows off 'new skills' ahead of new season

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Olivia Dunne was filmed practicing her routine as she trains at Louisiana State University (Image: livvydunne/Instagram)
Olivia Dunne was filmed practicing her routine as she trains at Louisiana State University (Image: livvydunne/Instagram)

Influencer gymnast Olivia Dunne has wowed fans with some of her new skills as she prepares for the new season.

The 20-year-old took to Instagram to post a video from one of her practice sessions as she worked on some new skills. In the clip, she executed an impressive vault routine while those who watched could be heard cheering behind the camera.

"Hey seniors can play with new skills too!", Dunne told her 4.4million Instagram followers. "Old dog, new tricks," commented Dunne's teammate and friend Elena Arenas. "Do anything for the gram," the gymnastics star responded. K.J. Johnson also praised her Tigers teammate by writing: "She's really good," along with a steaming face emoji.

Dunne is entering her fourth and final season as a member of Louisiana State University's gymnastics team. The influencer is the highest-earning female athlete in the NCAA and has an estimated net worth of $3.5million, according to People Magazine. She made an excellent start to life as a college student when she received All-American honors during her freshman year.

The youngster excelled at last season’s SEC Championships where she averaged a season-high score of 9.850. In April, she began a modelling career by posing for the Swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.

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Dunne’s wish is that her appearance in the magazine can help bridge the gap between the two different worlds of being an athlete and getting glammed up for a photoshoot. “When people look at my Sports Illustrated photos, I want them to take away that you can have the best of both worlds,” Dunne said at the time of the photoshoot.

“You can be an athlete, you can be in school, you can do modeling, but you can have the best of both worlds — and you can be a strong, independent woman while doing it all.” She added: “As a female athlete, I hope I can bring attention to how amazing college sports are and how hard college athletics are.

“People don't see [behind the scenes] every day of my college athletics, and it's very time consuming. In gymnastics, a lot of people only watch the Olympics every four years, and I feel like I've been able to use my platform to bring an audience to college gymnastics, and people are starting to see how amazing all these gymnasts are.”

Dunne is not only thriving in her respective careers, but she is also enjoying her personal life after it was confirmed she is in a relationship. Last month MLB prospect Paul Skenes revealed he and the gymnast are an item. He told the Post-Gazette their shared fame has played a part in them becoming closer and developing an understanding with one another.

"It’s nice, for sure," the Pittsburgh Pirates player admits. "It's nice to be able to have that conversation. She does get it." However, their careers mean the added attention presents the couple with daily challenges. "It can be a pain in the butt sometimes, to be honest, in terms of actually going somewhere," Skenes says.

"If one of us went out in Baton Rouge (in Louisiana) by ourselves, there’s probably gonna be someone there asking for something — picture, autograph, whatever. I do wish she could come to a baseball game and just enjoy it. It does irk me. I don't have any control over it. She really doesn't either. I'm sure it'll get better as I go up levels, but that's something I want for her."

Liam Llewellyn

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