Unfortunately you now have mediocre gymnasts who couldn’t last in elite gymnastics (LIVY DUNNE ::cough cough::) “returning” to college gymnastics teams. Which is of course, retirement from the sport, as the skills required from college gymnastics aren’t even comparable to elite.
Not sure if this happens as often in the UK, but a good analogy would be a Premier League footballer leaving for the MLS, lol (like when David Beckham left ManUnited for Real Madrid, then for L.A. Galaxy in the mid-2000s).
She’s capitalising off the fact that she’s a pretty blond but little else. It’s actually shocking how many perverted male “fans” she has - of all ages of course - who come to these meets now. The cameras will actually start the beginning of the competition (one where Olivia isn’t even competing) with close-up shots of her taking off her warm up clothes and zooming in on her crotch or her butt when her leo rides up. Her socials all have pics of her in super skimpy clothes or bikinis, pouting, or being “relatable” by showing her faceplanting after a routine during training (yes, how adorable your screwups are, while any other gymnast that highlighted this would be taken off the team immediately).
Shock of all shocks, she decided to “stay on” with LSU for another year. lol. She makes millions off sponsorship deals - not because she’s a top gymnast. She’s not even close to the best gymnast on their team, yet many in college gymnastics are acting as though it’s a “good thing” that she’s bringing nationwide (global?) attention to a very neglected but difficult women’s sport.
I don’t see how it’s a good thing that young men (and men old enough to be her father!) are showing up at these meets just to sexualise the young women, but sure, okay. I can’t imagine how happy the rest of the team will be when she finally leaves. I feel awful for the teammates who train harder and perform much better, yet are completely ignored in favor of a cute blond girl who honestly looks like a million other cute blondes out there.
The only difference is, is that she has some skill. Hence why she never wants to leave the team: there’s nowhere but down to go for her after this, someone who has been using her looks to advance a decent (at best) gymnastics career. And God forbid anyone try to mention her forgettable performances on any of her socials, especially if you’re female: you’ll immediately have an entire army of male fans accusing you of “jealousy.”
At least I think elite gymnastics is safe from the likes of opportunistic and narcissistic young women like herself. Not sure what will happen to gymnastics on the college level and if this trend will continue, but I hope to God it doesn’t.