Tough season for the LSU Tigers Gymnastics team. On January 24, Olivia Dunne’s squad faced a devastating defeat against Arkansas on the Razorbacks’ home turf. The Tigers remained just 0.275 points behind the rival on the final scoreboard. So close, yet so far! Meanwhile, the result pushed LSU to number 3 in the week 4 ranking presented by the All Things Gymnastics podcast. The Florida Gators now sit comfortably in the second place. A massive blow to the 2024 champions! But was there any special reason for such a loss? The 22-year-old social media star from New Jersey had some views to share. 

Olivia Dunne spoke up at last- she chimed in to share her thoughts on college gymnastics on Sunday. The popularity of women’s gymnastics made a place in her argument. Furthermore, the national champion gymnast raised questions on the latest judging fiasco in college gymnastics. As per her, the second element is harming the first one this season. But the fans were certainly not having it.

After Olivia Dunne’s post went live on X, the gymnastics fans verbally attacked her. And boy! did it get wild! Beneath her post on X, one such comment went, “You think you have fans because of the sport.” Gymnastics fans surely know about her overwhelming popularity on social media and her performances on the mat. But where did she go wrong? What did she write in her post to be met with such responses?

In the post, Dunne wrote, “If you want fans to enjoy the sport and increase viewership, you have to look at what makes the crowds go crazy! People understand what a perfect 10 is and want people who do things that look great to be rewarded.” Olivia Dunne believes that the stringent marking system and not enough 10s are curbing viewership this season. Notably, judges have only awarded two perfect 10s this season. Surprisingly, one of those two achievers, Helen Hu, had a contest on January 26. 

Helen Hu’s team, Mizzou Gymnastics, faced off against Kentucky. However, Hu fell short of achieving a perfect 10 on the balance beam, earning a score of 9.975 instead. Additionally, her teammate, Amari Celestine, also performed well, scoring 9.925 in the floor exercise. Now the question arises: Did they appeal to the scoring policy despite missing the perfect 10 by a narrow margin? No, nothing has come of that so far. Still, Livvy continues to investigate the reasons behind the disappointing scores.

In her post, she brought in a comparison with other sports to settle her debate. She mentioned, “Too many deductions taken at a judge’s discretion feels the same as watching a basketball game that’s constantly interrupted with penalties or a football game with flags on every play. At some point it feels negative and loses the entertainment factor that draws the crowd in.” But here she missed a critical point. 

Both basketball and football are massively popular in the USA despite having issues Olivia Dunne mentioned. Any special reason? It surely exists. And Olivia missed it in her post. However, she concluded her post with the lines, “Making changes that can impact the entertainment value will affect athletes financially as well. Female sports in the NCAA have to focus on building crowd engagement to continue to get revenue support for the athletes.” Fans couldn’t take it lightly. They’re not ready to accept changes in the basic norm of the sport for entertainment’s sake. They went all out in the comment section.

Olivia Dunne faces backlash from gymnastics fans

“Livvy. Girl. This is some nonsense.” Yikes! People did not mince their words at all. Although Livvy raised questions, she missed the obvious. With so many matches from the NFL playoffs to basketball contests, and college gymnastics, fans find it difficult to choose among these options. The subscription charges on ESPN+ and other platforms have made watching college gymnastics tough for the fans. But the hardcore fans had a straight reply for Livvy. 

Example? A comment went on as “No one was ever watching you because they enjoy gymnastics….” For many gymnastics fans, Livvy is still an underperformer in her team. As per them, she isn’t the perfect candidate to talk about an issue like scoring policy in NCAA gymnastics. However, in the meantime, individuals having the right to speak on the issue came forward to address some fundamental problems. 

Christina Chauvenet is one such. The former gymnast is now a commentator in NCAA gymnastics. That role makes her a perfect voice to speak on the topic. Christina wrote, “This argument is wrong in so many ways but the easiest example is that in elite WAG viewership has increased since the open-ended code. It’s not the perfect 10 driving the viewership, it’s the athletes.” An example can be the UCLA Bruins’ last gymnastics duel.

Almost 7,647 fans entered Pauley Pavilion to watch the match against No. 26 Illinois. The footfall was massive compared to the numbers from the Trojans’ previous seasons. Surely, Jordan Chiles’s presence in the lineup was a driving force. So, the lack of perfect 10s wasn’t an issue. Meanwhile, a three-time NCAA gymnastics champion had another point to add.

Morgan Belvedere, the former Gator, wrote, “10s are earned, not given. Universities should focus on marketing their student-athletes and the sport better. Give fans a reason to show up outside of just school loyalty. The integrity of the sport should not be diminished for the sake of entertainment by giving out fake perfect scores.”  Morgan believes the presence of popular faces in gymnastics might turn the fans to the matches. But the scoring policy should not be compromised only to make the sport more entertaining to watch. Well, there is no doubt that popular faces help increase viewership. LSU is a huge example of that fact.

Olivia Dunne’s argument surely invited intense counter-arguments. What do you think of her beliefs? Do you have any take on it? Share below.