LSU star gymnast Olivia Dunne has some extra security around her going into the 2024 season.
The measures came after overzealous Dunne fans at the University of Utah created a ruckus when the Tigers were at the school for a meet in January. Dunne had to urge her massive social media fan base to be “respectful” at events while coach Jeff Clark said more security would be added.
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Olivia Dunne of LSU takes a selfie with fans after a Pac-12 meet against Utah at Jon M. Huntsman Center on Jan. 6, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Dunne told People magazine in a recent interview it will be more of the same this season.
“We haven’t competed since last season, so we’ll see what this season holds,” she told the outlet in an interview published Monday. “But after the incident in Utah that happened last year, we now have a security guard that travels with the LSU gymnastics team.”
Fans hold signs for Olivia Dunne of LSU during a Pac-12 meet against Utah on Jan. 6, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Olympic gold medalist Kathy Johnson Clarke revealed last year that she had been asked several times by fans whether she was Dunne’s mother while the mother of a Utah athlete took to Facebook to claim that Tigers fans were “so rude and disrespectful,” according to OutKick. It prompted Dunne’s ask of her fans.
Dunne also told Sports Illustrated she doesn’t attend classes in person anymore over fear of her safety.
LSU would eventually get through the noise and make it to the NCAA Championships, finishing in fourth place.
Dunne reflected on her junior season as she enters her final year at the school.
LSU Tigers gymnast Olivia Dunne during a match against the West Virginia Mountaineers on March 10, 2023, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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“Last year was probably one of the most rewarding and most difficult years of my life,” she said. “Just having so many eyes on me was such a new feeling, but it was pretty cool at the same time.”
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