This wasn’t exactly a shining moment for Olivia “Livvy” Dan.
The girlfriend of former LSU gymnast and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenneth made an appearance at the Kentucky Oaks a day before the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, where she was tasked with announcing “Rider Up.”
However, Dan, who is usually so vibrant, seemed a bit off.
She expressed her excitement for the Kentucky Oaks but looked down throughout her speech, almost as if she was reading from a cue card. There wasn’t much of a reaction from the crowd, which left her moment feeling a bit flat.
Viewers took to social media to voice their criticism of Dan’s performance, with one suggesting it felt quite awkward.
“Can you believe how long it’ll take her and Paul to figure this out?” one user joked.
Another chimed in, mentioning her “woodboard intonation,” while a different comment noted they’d experienced more excitement than that.
One skeptical user questioned, “Why does she look down so much? She can’t remember two sentences.” Someone else chimed back with, “It was just one sentence.”
Nonetheless, Dan didn’t let the incident stop her from returning for the Derby on Saturday. She turned heads in a white dress adorned with black polka dots and a black mesh overlay.
It appeared she wasn’t involved in any additional announcements, marking a significant event for her post-gymnastics career.
Dan wrapped up her gymnastics journey in April when LSU ended the season in third place during the NCAA semi-finals. She has emerged as one of the early prominent faces in college athletics, reportedly amassing a name, image, and likeness (NIL) valuation exceeding $4 million.
