“She is her” - Olivia Dunne delighted as LSU teammate Kiya Johnson completes her improbable journey from Achilles tear to Perfect 10
Olivia Dunne and the LSU Tigers Gymnastics team are off to a good start to the 2024 season and one of the best stories so far belongs to Kiya Johnson. Johnson suffered an Achilles tear in high school, the kind of injury that lingers in the mind even when fully healed.
In January 2023 against Kentucky, Johnson landed awkwardly and tore her left Achilles. Much like her right Achilles many years ago, this needed surgery to repair. Flash forward to the present and after surgery, rehabilitation and training, Kiya Johnson was able to pull off a Perfect 10 against Kentucky at the Maravich Center on Friday, Jan. 19.
This was an emotional scene for Johnson, her teammates and LSU fans, and Olivia Dunne shared an ESPN piece to her Instagram stories, captioned:
"She is her."
The Tigers came away with a 198.125-197.600 win against Kentucky, have won four of five meets, and are third in the national rankings with a 197.417 average. There's obviously a long way to go in the 2024 season but spirits are high at LSU. Next up for the Tigers is a journey to face Missouri on Friday, Jan. 16.
Olivia Dunne gets 333,000 likes on LSU Instagram post
Olivia Dunne is the best-known gymnast at LSU and has a social media following above and beyond almost any collegiate athlete. Ranked third in college sports for NIL money at $3.5 million and first among female athletes (per On3), Dunne shares snaps of her training and life with her 4.8 million followers on IG and 7.9 million on TikTok.
She took to IG on Wednesday to share an image that showed her flexibility. The post was captioned, "Just kicking back relaxing," and has over 333,000 likes thus far.
Given her following, it is hardly surprising that businesses pay Dunne handsomely for sponsored content, and she has previously earned £500,000 for a single IG post.
An ambassador for multiple companies, Olivia Dunne is a huge draw for LSU and college gymnastics in general, and will be hoping the Tigers can go all the way in 2024.