Following a third-place finish in the NCAA semifinals on Thursday, LSU gymnast and national star, Livvy Dunne, decided to say goodbye.
After the Tigers failed to punch their third straight ticket to the national championship, the 22-year-old Dunne took to social media and bid farewell to her athletic career.
Dunne rose to fame shortly after her arrival at LSU, quickly becoming a viral sensation and amassing over 13 million followers between TikTok and Instagram, in addition to nearly 200,000 on X.
Thanks in part to the NIL takeover, Dunne also raked in the big bucks, earning a $4.1 million evaluation by On3. Her sponsorships and endorsement deals included companies such as Grubhub, Vuori, American Eagle Outfitters, Crocs, Forever 21, and Nautica.
In 2023, the New Jersey native made her debut in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition and plans to stay involved with SI Swim during her post-gymnastics career.
“Ever since my last SI shoot, I feel like it just opened a bunch of new doors into the modeling world and media world,” Dunne said in March, via SI. “I announced at the ESPYs, I worked with new magazine brands, and it’s just been really cool.
“SI Swim means to me being comfortable in your own skin and being undeniably you, which is something I still work on to this day. In the sport of gymnastics, [body image is] a huge thing, and it’s something that I’m still working on to this day, being confident. But SI’s really helped me to see that it’s O.K. to not be perfect and to just be comfortable in your own skin.”
Dunne has also become a staple in Pittsburgh, where she regularly attends Pirates games to support her boyfriend, pitcher Paul Skenes.
