The LSU Tigers take the floor at the 2025 NCAA women’s gymnastics championship semifinals Thursday night seeking to defend their national championship.
Dunne, who is also a social media influencer and the girlfriend of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, has been sidelined for the last month with an avulsion fracture in her kneecap.
The Tigers, who won the NCAA’s University Park Regional, are appearing in their third consecutive national semifinals. They are also looking to join Oklahoma as teams that have won back-to-back national championships this decade.
Is Livvy Dunne competing at NCAA women’s gymnastics championship?
No, Dunne was not listed on the Tigers’ card ahead of Thursday’s Session II semifinal at the 2025 NCAA women’s gymnastics championship.
Livvy Dunne injury updates
‘Hi friends! Unfortunately, I’ve been dealing with an avulsion fracture of my patella and will not be able to compete on senior night,’ the story read, according to People Magazine.
She continued: ‘It absolutely breaks my heart to not get the opportunity to compete in the PMAC one last time. Tiger fans, you’ve been so good to me!’
She has been out since LSU’s senior night vs. Georgia on March 7, and hasn’t competed in the postseason. As noted by The Daily Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network, Dunne was held out of LSU’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament as a precaution and was seen wearing a knee brace.
‘It’s about pain. It’s about her pain. It’s an unusual thing,’ LSU coach Jay Clark said at a news conference ahead of the Tigers’ regular season finale vs. Auburn on March 10. ‘I had to look it up. I didn’t even know what the retinaculum in your knee was.
‘And generally speaking the little — she put it on social media, so it’s OK I guess for me to talk about it. But the little avulsion fracture that she has, she and I were talking about it yesterday, that generally happens to people who have been in a car accident or some sort of blunt force trauma and she can’t recall anything like that. It’s an extremely unusual thing that she is dealing with and it just hurts.’
Clark mentioned that Dunne can ‘force herself to function’ while dealing with the pain of her injury, but ‘it’s very painful.’
What is Livvy Dunne’s injury?
Dunne is dealing with an avulsion fracture in her kneecap. According to the Cleveland Clinic, an avulsion fracture occurs when ‘a piece of bone attached to a ligament or tendon breaks away from the main part of the bone.’
The Cleveland Clinic notes that it can take up to 12 weeks to fully heal, adding that it occurs in young athletes who engage in activities involving ‘quick movements and sudden changes in direction.’
Livvy Dunne scores 2025
Dunne has seen little competition in her fifth season at LSU this year, competing in only four meets this year. She hasn’t appeared in a meet since Jan. 24 against Arkansas, where she scored a 9.700 in the floor exercise.
She only competed in nine meets last season for the Tigers, which included recording a career-high score of 9.900 on the floor at both the Podium Challenge and the second round of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.
Here’s how Dunne has performed for LSU this season:
Score in parentheses
Jan. 3 vs. Iowa State: balance beam (9.825) | floor exercise (9.875)
Jan. 11 in Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad: uneven bars (9.725) | balance beam (9.775) | floor exercise (9.850)
Jan. 17 vs. Florida: floor exercise (9.875)
Jan. 24 vs. Arkansas: floor exercise (9.700)