Olivia Dunne seems to be in a peppy mood, and she has all the right to feel jubilant. Just a couple of days after announcing her return for a final NCAA season, the LSU Queen once again hogged up all the spotlights at the 2024 ESPY Awards. Despite not winning any trophies, Dunne’s flowy golden dress turned a lot of heads at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

The official LSU Women’s Basketball Team’s X account shared a snap of Dunne posing with Flau’jae Johnson, another bright name that calls the Tigers campus her home. The gymnast and the basketball sensation stand with their back against each other as the caption reads, “Best Of Both Worlds“.

As global gymnastics fans are gearing up to witness some truly breathtaking moments at the upcoming Olympic Games, Dunne is eyeing an emphatic season herself. While she won’t be joining the likes of Simone Biles and Shilese Jones at the French capital in a bid for the USA’s dominance on the big stage, Dunne enjoys a following that few NCAA athletes can achieve. Naturally, she isn’t alien to the public gaze and was witnessed in all her glory at the red carpet event.

However, despite basking in the limelight, Dunne didn’t manage to take home any hardware from the award show. Instead, the Indiana Fever’s prolific “Rookie of the Year” Caitlin Clark was bestowed with the Best Women Athlete as well as the Best Breakthrough Athlete honors. Clark’s “triple-double” has created quite a ripple in the country’s sporting community and the awards were a testament to her hard work.

Overshadowing Dunne’s miss, Simone Biles, en route to her third Olympic Games, won the Best Comeback Athlete award. With pivotal performances going as back as last year’s World Championships and continuing to prove her worth up till last month’s US Olympic Team Trials, Biles’ honor wasn’t too unexpected. While the LSU Queen didn’t receive any milestones at the Serena Williams and Jennifer Garner-hosted event, she has her set of challenges to look forward to in the coming months.

Olivia Dunne eyes a fierce defense of the NCAA title

Olivia will be joining her teammate Haleigh Bryant one more time as both the Tigers stars return for a final NCAA stint. Bryant added the elusive Gym Slam to her resume this year, while Dunne has also been one of the major driving forces behind LSU’s first-ever NCAA Championships victory in the 2023-24 season. Naturally, Dunne wanted to end her career having defended her national title successfully, and fans couldn’t hold back their excitement to see her in action in the purple and golden leotard when she confirmed her decision a couple of days ago. Irrespective of the fact that this means that Livvy won’t get to spend as much time with her boyfriend and baseball star Paul Skenes, she seems to be determined to pay heed to her responsibilities for the moment.

On the other hand, missing out on receiving an award at the ESPY event wouldn’t also dent Livvy’s widespread popularity in the collegiate athletics circuit. Thanks to her immense social media presence, Dunne enjoys a few achieve a magnitude of following that. She is also currently one of the most highly valued NIL athletes and has several brand sponsorships under her belt. But will these be enough to keep her motivated to keep her head in the game for one last time? Only time will tell.