Livvy Dunne details injuries she has gone through in her career

Through the glitz and glam, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how athletic gymnasts like LSU star Livvy Dunne are. And flinging ones body around, landing hard and generally contorting into odd positions take a toll.

And while it might not have the collisions that football or hockey might have, it’s quite easy to sustain a very serious injury as one tumbles and flies through the air, often at speed. Dunne herself recounted some of the bumps, bruises and more serious afflictions she’s suffered during her career as a gymnast.

“Oh man,” Dunne said during a brief hit on SportsCenter. “I mean, gymnastics is a sport where you use your full body all of the time, so you get injuries all over your body. I’ve dealt with shoulder pain, torn labrums, shin splints, shin pain, stress fractures, broken ankles, but I mean, it’s all worth it in the long run.”

So far in her career, Dunne has avoided any catastrophic injuries, though torn labrums and broken bones are certainly not issues to take lightly.

But as she noted, she’s willing to push through the aches, pains and more to keep competing in a sport she loves, shin splints or not.

Dunne shared some of her goals for LSU in 2024

Dunne has become one of the biggest figures in college athletics, in large part because of how she’s been able to capitalize on her NIL. Even with all that, being able to compete at LSU and potentially win a championship is still incredibly important to Dunne.

It’s been an excellent season for LSU gymnastics and the Tigers are in a good position to win a championship this season. With that in mind, Dunne shared that she believes a gymnastics national championship would be incredibly impactful at LSU.

“It would mean the world to this team and this university,” Dunne said. “It’s an unprecedented area for LSU gym to win the national championship. I just think it would be so special for Tiger Nation.”

LSU is currently ranked second in the country for gymnastics, with a team national qualifying score (NQS) of 197.845 this season. The Tigers also have a team high score of 198.475. Those are the best numbers in the SEC and are only behind Oklahoma nationally.

For her part, Dunne has plenty of experience at LSU and within the program. Now a senior for the Tigers, she’s been appearing in meets for LSU since 2021 and is known in particular for her ability on the bars. That experience allows her to have a better view of the big picture. It also means that she’s running low on opportunities to be a part of a championship.

When her time does run out, there’s plenty that Dunne is going to miss about the gym. However, as she explained, there is one thing that she isn’t going to miss about the gym.

“Probably the conditioning,” Dunne said. “I don’t like lifting weights really. It’s a love/hate relationship and I’ve learned to kind of love it this year because this is the best physical shape I’ve been in since I’ve been in college.”