There is no doubt that when Olivia Dunne will finally leave LSU this year, she will go down as one of the most influential college athletes ever. The way she has used NIL to her benefit should be taken as an example by everyone participating in the NCAA, trying to maximize their earnings. Livvy is ranked second in the list of the highest-paid NIL athletes, earning a huge net worth of $2.3 million. Thus, she has done quite well for herself. But Olivia Dunne’s success off the court hasn’t stopped fans from criticizing her for her contributions on the mat.

Many felt that she was barely a part of the team during LSU’s title-winning season in 2024 and had not done enough to even pose with the trophy. Olivia revealed during her appearance at the ‘Best of Both Worlds’ podcast that some called her a professional bench warmer. This is a notion that has been shared by a lot of people on the internet. However, one person who doesn’t echo the same sentiment is current LSU coach Jay Clark. He believes that Livvy is extremely important to his team and played a big part in his team winning the title.

Talking to All Things Gymnastics, LSU gymnastics coach Jay Clark addressed the hate Olivia Dunne was receiving for her career at LSU. According to him, as her achievements off-court attract so many people, many attempt to downplay her gymnastics career. “You know, they want to discredit everything she’s accomplished outside of gymnastics by saying, you know, something negative about her in gymnastics,” he said.

Jay then spoke about how her career has been much better than what the detractors claim it to be as she has been part of the Team US setup. He was referring to the 2017 City of Jesolo tournament, where Olivia was called up to represent the US team. Despite not returning to the team since then, this remains an impressive achievement by Olivia, reinforcing Jay Clark’s point.

“She’s not like, you know, some kid that showed up and, and we put on the poster so she could be famous. I mean, you know, it’s contributed in numerous ways,” said Jay. The coach said that while performing for the team on the mat is important, there are many efforts Olivia Dunne puts off the court that go unnoticed by the fans.

The gymnast has been a great teammate, and the only reason she doesn’t get credit for this is because the fans don’t know the happenings inside LSU or during training. He said, “So they don’t; they don’t understand the magnitude of the roles that get played by people that don’t necessarily compete all the time. And, nonetheless, those roles are vital to our success.”

Thus, despite all the hate she gets, Olivia will always have backing from her coach Jay. The coach does appreciate everything she has done for the team, and no criticism from anybody would change that.

Olivia Dunne’s achievements at LSU

Despite facing her share of critics, Olivia Dunne has accomplished several notable feats during her time at LSU. In her freshman season, the gymnast showcased her potential by earning All-American honors on the uneven bars, with an impressive average score of 9.84. Olivia demonstrated even more improvement the following year, achieving a career-high score of 9.925 on the bars and setting another career-high on the floor exercise with a score of 9.900.

She continued this solid streak of contributions in her junior year too, with a bar average of 9.788. But the main conversation should be happening in her senior year. This is because this is the season that has been most contested by the critics, as LSU won the title that year. Many had claimed that Olivia Dunne’s contributions were not enough to be part of the title-winning team.

However, the gymnast had handled her role quite diligently during that year as the backup of the team. She appeared in nine events for the team and competed on the floor eight times in total. The gymnast posted a season-best of 9.875 in bars and was even given the coach’s award for being prepared to compete at any moment for the team. Thus, most of the criticism Olivia receives for her gymnastics seems uncalled for. Hopefully, by the end of her final season, the gymnast could get everybody on her side.