Everyone knows who Olivia Dunne is, and it is not because she is dating MLB pitcher Paul Skenes. Dunne is the highest-paid female college athlete, making seven figures in NIL money from her five years as a gymnast at LSU. Dunne has been a gymnast at the top of her game, and now, newly retired, she is making waves with Sports Illustrated.
In Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's latest release, Dunne was one of four models to appear on the cover, setting the world on fire.
This is not the first time the elite college gymnast has shot with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, but this is her first time on the cover. Dunne's first time shoot came back in 2023, and this is the third time with the team, but this time, even to her surprise, she is donning the cover.
"My first shoot in Puerto Rico to this shoot in Bermuda, I'm nearly a different person, and I feel like it's because of those amazing women that are in the issue that led the way and, you know, paved this path," Dunne said in a Zoom call with the SI team, where she was surprised as the cover model.
This cover girl is more than just an athlete — she’s a trendsetter, a history maker, and now she’s making her mark in the #SISwimsuit issue!https://t.co/DV4RTgRu9a
— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) May 13, 2025
In her interview with SI, Dunne opened up about her life not only as a gymnast, but also as an influencer and how the two coincide with each other, but people certainly don't take her seriously for it.
“People like to discredit what I do because of the way I look,” Dunne said. “But if you take a deeper dive, there’s so much more.”
When NIL was allowed about four years ago, Dunne, instead of jumping on social media to create account after account to try and find money, she instead went to her TikTok account, one she had been building since she was 10 years old, and continued her everyday routine on her account. Dunne didn't change the way she did things on her social media, making her that much more relatable to her audience.
After a five-year career at LSU, Dunne has now graduated from LSU summa cum laude with a degree in interdisciplinary studies and is currently working through graduate school studying technology management. She plans to work more on the Livvy Foundation, and NIL fund that helps support LSU's women's secure brand deals for athletes.
Dunne was not the only college athlete to make the cover of SI Swimsuit. In this release, Dunne joined UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles as a cover model, and TCU's Hailey Van Lith was a cover model in April, but was also on the cover for the physical release, which came out today.