College gymnast Olivia Dunne speaks out after 'scary and disturbing' event
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: Today
College gymnast Olivia Dunne has spoken out after an unprecedented number of mostly male fans gathered outside of her team meet in Utah.
Olivia, who is considered to be one of the most influential college athletes in the US and became a millionaire at age 18 thanks to her brand sponsorship deals, has commented on the incident which has been described as 'scary and disturbing'.
Here's what she had to say:
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Olivia is signed with talent agency WME Sports and has landed a sponsorship deal with an activewear brand.
The 20-year-old LSU Tigers gymnast has millions of followers across TikTok and Instagram, but some worry that her level of celebrity might be getting out of hand.
LSU Tigers has had to amp up security measures on campus after a large group of fans gathered outside the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, where her team were competing, saying 'rude things and swearing' while hoping to get a glimpse of Olivia, who did not attend.
"In the past, I have had some of my supporters come out to the meets and watch and cheer for LSU, but that was insane, it really was," Olivia told The Today Show's Stephanie Gosk.
Speaking on the new measures in place as a result of the gathering, Olivia shared: "They gave us some new rules for us athletes, just to keep us safe, to not go into the stand after meets. And we have a new security person that travels with us."
Of her 6.8 million TikTok followers and 3.1 million Instagram followers, Olivia has had a few concerning interactions with more hardcore obsessives.
"There are some people, occasionally, that do reach out and it is a bit concerning," she admitted, adding that last year the university had to contact police over an incident with a fan.
As of 2021, US college athletes have been allowed to make money through their name, image and likeness - a concept that was previously prohibited.
Thanks to that decision by the US Supreme Court, Olivia is now making seven figures through her sponsorship deals on social media.
Though some college sports coaches have slammed the content that some female athletes are posting, Olivia's coach Jay Clark stands in her corner.
"If expression and self expression is something that we value as a right in this country, then we have to be consistent when it doesn't necessarily fit what our own agenda might be," he said.
That being said, he did share concerns about the intensity of some of Olivia's followers, adding: "I think [social media] creates a false sense of accessibility and familiarity that followers feel as though there's a personal connection."
After the concerning gathering of male fans earlier this month, Olivia issued a message to her followers, asking them to 'be respectful' of her team.
She wrote: "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 has contacted LSU Tigers for comment.