Olivia Gunter: Flipping the Social Media Narrative!

When her season was abruptly cut short by the pandemic, LSU gymnast Olivia Gunter knew she still wanted to interact with her friends and keep up her fitness routine, she was just not sure how.

That is until she created an Instagram page with the name “unathleticathlete_” where she was able to do just that. Gunter started the page in hopes that it would motivate herself and others to stay fit during their down time.

“Whenever our season ended, I gave it a month or so and then just started feeling lethargic,” said Gunter. “I told myself I needed to get moving again. So, I created the account.”

The name for the account originated after Gunter and a few of her roommates filmed themselves doing a workout routine. When they went back and watched the video, they all agreed they did not look very athletic, thus creating the idea for the account name.

Gunter’s page quickly gained popularity as more people, even outside of LSU, started to join to watch and participate in her workouts. She used the platform’s live feature to host workouts so that others could join and workout with her if they chose to do so.

“I would go live, and people quickly started jumping on board” Gunter said. “I remember when it was 300 followers and then 600, and now it is up to 3,000.”

When the 2021 season started and Gunter became busier while focusing on gymnastics, the account became more of a general health account rather than just for posting workout videos. She prides herself and the account on being a safe space for people to feel welcome.

“I do not like to preach standard health stuff about how you have to workout and what you need to eat,” Gunter said. “It is more of a space for people to do and be whatever they want.”

Gunter said one of the main reasons she has continued to account and promotes the message of loving oneself and living however makes you happy is because of her time in gymnastics. She says body dysmorphia and eating disorders are prevalent in the sport and she has seen it firsthand, so she wanted to create a place where people could vent about those topics and feel welcome and understood.

“I kind of started opening up on the account to the way I was feeling about myself,” said Gunter. “So many people reached out and said they felt the same way and struggled the same way.”

Gunter said one of her posts that was a major turning point on the account was when she went to the beach with her friends. She detailed how she had a great time, but at soon as she started looking at the pictures from the day, her mood immediately changed because of her perception of the way she felt she looked.  She said people really resonated with that post and how genuine she was about sharing her feelings on the issue.

“Later that evening, I looked at the pictures and felt sick to my stomach and hated the way I looked,” Gunter said. “I told my truth about how I felt, and the response was insane. I decided that is when I was going to start talking about the things that people do not usually talk about on social media.”

Although Gunter is graduating soon, she said she has no plans of stopping the account. She wants to continue doing it and letting people know that they have a safe place to share and have their feelings validated.

“I just want people to know it’s a safe place,” said Gunter. “I do not care who you are, it is just about having a community that is truthful and supports one another. It is more than a workout account; it is a welcoming environment.”