Gymnast Olivia Dunne courtesy of LSU Sports.
The LSU gymnastics team is increasing their security after a large group of teenage boys swarmed to see 20-year-old sophomore Olivia Dunne at a meet in Utah Friday night. Gymnastics coach Jay Clark fears the situation will only get worse after a reporter covering the competition posted a video of the incident.
“And so, somebody puts it on the internet, and it goes viral and so now all we’ve done is sort of encourage that kind of behavior everywhere we go,” said Clark.
Dunne issued a statement on social media afterward asking fans to be respectful of gymnasts and the gymnastics community. Dunne is one of the most followed athletes on social media.
Clark said while social media and name, image, and likeness deals help put new faces on a sport that otherwise the public might not see, it also has its disadvantages.
“But on the other hand, it’s a little bit of a distraction and it can be kind of a pain in the neck when it rises to the level that it did. Nobody’s upset with Olivia,” said Clark.
As Dunne and her teammates’ coach Clark said it’s his responsibility to ensure their safety and while 99 percent of it is probably harmless autograph-seeking, picture-taking, kind of behavior.
“We live in a world where you don’t know who’s going to get into that crowd. I remember Monica Seles signing autographs thinking she was doing something completely innocent, and a guy pulls out a knife. So, you don’t want to live in fear, but you’ve got to make sure we take precautions,” said Clark.
The 10th-ranked team will compete in Lexington Friday against the 12th-ranked University of Kentucky.
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