NCAA

LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne sparks debate with controversial ‘pronoun’ announcement

The hugely popular gymnast and TikTok star has stirred up a debate among fans after listing her “pronouns” during a NASCAR Cup Series race.

LSU gymnast and TikTok star Olivia Dunne has stirred up a debate among fans after listing her "pronouns" during a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Jennifer Bubel
Sports journalist who grew up in Dallas, TX. Lover of all things sports, she got her degree from Texas Tech University (Wreck ‘em Tech!) in 2011. Joined Diario AS USA in 2021 and now covers mostly American sports (primarily NFL, NBA, and MLB) as well as soccer from around the world.
Update:

College athlete Olivia Dunne has sparked a debate on social media after she posted a video on TikTok in which she announces her “pronouns” at a NASCAR event. Dunne is an accomplished gymnast at LSU and became social media famous when she joined TikTok in 2020. She is now the most-followed NCAA athlete on social media with over 7 million followers on TikTok, plus 4 million on Instagram.

Back to the “pronouns” - I’m putting these in quotations because they’re not exactly pronouns. At a NASCAR Cup Series race in Nashville, Dunne stood beside two U.S. soldiers and proudly announced (well, mouthed the words over a recorded audio), “my pronouns are U S A!”, followed by the caw of an eagle.

For Dunne, it was a show of patriotism and support for the troops. But for others, it was a controversial way of showing it and a misuse of the term “pronouns”. Several people commented that she would upset people with the video, but others were happy to have seen a well-known person (and especially female) show blatant support for the U.S. and its military.

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