Olivia Dunne Reveals How She Celebrated LSU's Championship — and Summer Plans with Her Boyfriend (Exclusive)

Dunne, who just signed a new NIL deal with the content creator platform Passes, just won the 2024 NCAA gymnastics championship with her LSU Tigers earlier this month

Olivia Dunne has lots to celebrate this summer.

The 21-year-old gymnast is fresh off of LSU's NCAA gymnastics championship win, she just purchased a new house and her boyfriend, Paul Skenes, is making waves as a top MLB prospect.

Dunne and the LSU Tigers defeated Florida, California and Utah to snag their first title in program history on April 20, and Dunne tells PEOPLE the victory was emotional for her.

"The first thing I did was start crying right after we won," says Dunne. "I just felt like my team's hard work had finally paid off, just four years of working so hard towards a common goal."

The victory in itself brought Dunne to tears, but the wildly popular athlete and social media personality says she felt emotional about her teammates' success as a group after the championship win.

"I think it's so special to have a group of young women all have a common goal in mind and then work to reach that goal and then win," says Dunne. "That is so rewarding."

Related: LSU and Olivia Dunne Capture First NCAA Gymnastics Championship: ‘Best Day Ever!’

After shedding some tears, Dunne says she met her mom in the audience to celebrate "and gave her a big hug" before calling Skenes, 21, to tell him the good news.

"I just wanted to fill him in on what just happened because I know he just won a national championship at LSU. He understands all the feelings so I just wanted to call him and just tell him what it was like."

With Skenes a top pitching prospect expected to be called up soon to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dunne says, "I hope so" when asked if she'll attend his games this summer, though "it's not the easiest place to get to" amid her busy schedule.

"If it doesn't interfere with my schedule, then yes. I do live kind of close in New Jersey on the East Coast, but yeah, I'll definitely try to be there."

Also on her list for this offseason is "catching a real tan instead of a spray tan," Dunne jokes. "I just want to be at the beach relaxing."

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Dunne says she often "pushes aside" a majority of her work obligations outside of gymnastics when the Tigers are in season, which can make for less-than-relaxing offseasons for her.

"During my season, a bunch of work obligations, I push them aside to the summer because I'm just so busy during the season and then it kind of starts to pile up during my summers. So right now I'm starting to get to the point where it's piling up a bit, but I'm going to balance it all and I'm going to make everything work between going and seeing Paul, working and relaxing."

The championship gymnast, who just announced a new partnership with content creator platform Passes to give fans exclusive lifestyle content, also has a personal goal for herself after school ends.

"I am a terrible cook actually but I'm going to learn because I just bought a house and I have a beautiful kitchen, so I'm going to try to learn how to cook this summer," she shares.

And the new home will give her the chance to spend more time outdoors in the backyard with her and Skenes' golden retriever, Roux.

"It's her backyard. She's free, she can run around, I can run around," says Dunne. "She is not even one years old, she's still a pup and I love her. I love her to death. She is such a nice little break from reality. She is wonderful."

Skenes and Dunne announced they'd adopted Roux together in October on social media, but the LSU gymnast tells PEOPLE it was initially Skenes' idea to get a dog.

"It was more Paul that wanted to get a dog because he wanted someone to keep him company during spring training," Dunne explains. "And turns out we got the dog and I was not going to give it to Paul again," she says with a laugh.

Related: Olivia Dunne’s Boyfriend Celebrates Her National Championship as She Debates Returning for 5th Year at LSU

Through her new partnership with Passes, Dunne will give her millions of followers the chance to enjoy exclusive lifestyle content as she enjoys her downtime this summer.

"I'm so excited to be working with Passes. It's going to be a really fun way for me to connect with my followers and show them parts of my life they haven't seen on other social media platforms," she explains.

"I'm going to be able to answer their questions, share pictures and videos behind the scenes, just giving them an exclusive path to more of my life."

Dunne, who became the top-earning female NIL athlete in July 2021, says she chose Passes because she was "really excited about the direction they want to go with this platform," and connecting with fans is always a priority for her. "It's a really nice place to be an entrepreneur and be creative," she says.

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