College gymnast asks fans to be 'respectful' after troubling scenes at meet
Anish Vij
Featured Image Credit: livvydunne/Instagram/sampeszek/TikTok
A popular college gymnast has asked her fans to please be 'respectful' following troubling scenes after a game.
Sports sensation Olivia Dunne is considered to be one of the most influential college athletes in the US who became a millionaire at the age of 18.
Olivia is signed with talent agency WME Sports and has landed a sponsorship deal with an activewear brand.
Advert
Now 20 years old with millions of followers, the LSU Tigers gymnast has addressed an incident at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Friday in Salt Lake City, where the home team won 197.275-196.775.
A large group of mostly male fans were outside of the Huntsman Center 'saying rude things and swearing', as they waited for Olivia, who did not attend.
2008 Olympic silver medalist and current commentator Samantha Peszek shared footage of the 'scary and disturbing' scenes on social media.
ESPN commentator Kathy Johnson Clarke also revealed: "I was walking out just behind you, Sam, and they were screaming to me 'are you Livvy's mom? Are you Livvy's mom?'. Very disturbing. Creepy, actually."
Utah junior gym athlete Jillian Hoffman‘s mother Jennifer wrote on Facebook: "I am a mother of a Utah gymnast, as we were walking to the car the group swarmed my daughter and her teammate.
"They literally said to their faces, 'You are not Livvy but you will do, can we get a picture'.
"[The group] also called my daughter Livvy 2.0.
"They were so rude and disrespectful. It was very hard for mama bear not to come out."
Despite the unsettling scenes, the mother said Jillian and her teammates were not 'harassed, assaulted or harmed in anyway'.
Olivia addressed the incident in a tweet yesterday (January 8), which read: "I will always appreciate and love the support from you guys, but if you come to a meet, I want to ask you to please be respectful of the other gymnasts and the gymnastics community as we are just doing our job."
Her mother Katherine also called for people to 'stop shaming girls for the behaviour of boys'.
She tweeted: "It is not OK to blame any athlete/celebrity when fan behavior crosses the line.
"In a sport where all the girls wear nothing but leotards stop suggesting that how Livvy dresses means she deserves this in any way.
"Stop shaming girls for the behavior of boys."
UNILAD have contacted LSU Tigers for comment.