How Olivia Dunne turned the male gaze into a gymnastics empire

O livia Dunne is not the most talented gymnast out there, nor is she the most iconic representative of her sport. But if you were to review the library of slow motion videos Dunne posts on TikTok, especially those featuring her performing backflips and handsprings on the beach (“beachnastics,” she calls it), you’d probably understand why the 20-year-old New Jersey native is, by certain metrics anyway, the biggest thing going in American gymnastics.

Dunne has an Instagram following of 3.7m, more than Derek Jeter, Cher or the reigning all-round Olympic gymnastic champion, Sunisa Lee. On TikTok, 7.2m accounts follow Dunne – millions more than Beyoncé. Some of the pictures and videos involve gymnastics. But Dunne, who has long blond hair, a heart-shaped face and kewpie doll features, has mastered the art of posting sports-agnostic selfies that send her fans into a tizzy. Occasionally she wears a leotard, but mostly she dons croptops, minidresses, angel wings.

Her captions are coy, her poses saucy. The posts inspire comments that rain down like an endless waterfall. “Wife?” “Stunning.” “Cookie?” “Cookie???” “I’d sell my kidney and my liver just to meet you.” (“I’d like to meet you with ur kidney and liver still inside you,” came Dunne’s reply.)

Dunne took up gymnastics at age three and bounded through an impressive slate of state, regional and national competitions. She spent her childhood summers at rigorous training camps, giving up the sleepaway camp and bonfire opportunities that her classmates enjoyed. While she was polishing her beam, bar and floor routines, she also honed her social media savvy. (Dunne has had an Instagram account since she was 10, or for half of her years on Earth.)

She attends Louisiana State