Olivia Dunne is no stranger to going viral on social media, but the engagement some posts have received even left her in disbelief.
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, LSU’s superstar gymnast — who is making her debut in this year’s issue — spoke about her most viral posts on Instagram and TikTok, where she boasts 11.5 million followers combine.
“My most viral Instagram post is a picture of me about to mount the beam at practice,” Dunne said of the December 2022 post, which has received over 877,000 likes.
As for the TikTok in question, the clip has amassed a whopping 41 million views since it was posted in early 2022.
“My most viral TikTok got 35.7 million views, which is crazy. I can’t even wrap my head around, but I’m just showing off my gymnastics skills,” the 20-year-old explained.
The NCAA’s highest-earning female athlete, Dunne has been building an empire for herself following the organization’s rule change in 2021, enabling student-athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
She has since secured deals with companies such as Vuori, American Eagle, and Plantfuel.
For Dunne, though, one of the biggest goals she hopes to achieve is to show others “how amazing college sports are.”
“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,” the New Jersey native told Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
“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 and the Lady Tigers gymnastics team finished fourth at the NCAA Championship Final last month.
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