Olivia Dunne lifts curtain on Sports Illustrated shoot: It feels unreal

Talented young gymnast Olivia Dunne has revealed interesting details about taking part in a swimsuit shoot for Sports Illustrated.

Dunne is an LSU gymnast and her looks and clever marketing have led her to be one of the most followed athletes on social media in the United States of America.

The 21-year-old is going to be returning to the pages of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue for the second time and on this occasion, it will be as an official rookie.

Her return is going to be a part of the 60th anniversary. That is going to be released in the spring of 2024 and she was announced as one of the models in November 2023.

“Coming back for Year 2, I mean, last year I said it was a dream come true, and nothing’s changed,” she said at the time. “It’s still a dream come true. I can’t believe I can call myself a rookie. It feels unreal.”

The benefits of Sports Illustrated

Even though she has her gymnastic talent and an incredible presence on social media, her shoot in Puerto Rico for the 2023 edition paved the way for more opportunities.

“Ever since my last SI shoot, I feel like it just opened a bunch of new doors into the modeling world and media world,” she told SI Swimsuit. “I announced at the ESPYs, I worked with new magazine brands, and it’s just been really cool.”

This time, she has travelled to Porto and further north in Portugal and she has shared some of her experiences on TikTok.

Olivia captioned the video, which has more than 1 million views since it was posted, “a dream shooting for @SISwimsuit.”