Gymnast Olivia Dunne has responded to aNew York Times article that links sponsored social media posts among female college athletes to the concept of “sexiness sells” and cited a women’s basketball coach who claimed the posts are “regressive”.
Dunne, 20, a Louisiana State University gymnast described in the article as being at the “leading edge of a movement shaking the old foundations of college sports,” has an estimated net worth of $2.3m. The figure has been amassed in part through sponsorship deals and posts on her TikTok and Instagram pages, where she has 6.3m followers and 2.3m followers, respectively. These are possible under a new set of rules passed in 2021 that allow student athletes to sign name, image and likeness deals.
