Olivia Vivian

Olivia Vivian (born 13 July 1989 in Perth) is an Australian artistic gymnast who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics. After competing at the 2008 Olympics, Vivian competed for Oregon State University in NCAA gymnastics for four years. She also competed in the 2005, 2006, and 2014 World Championships.[3] Vivian won a silver medal with the Australian team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In 2020, she was one of several former gymnasts to speak out about a "toxic" culture within the country's elite programme.[4]

Olivia Vivian
Nickname(s)Liv[1]
Country represented Australia
Regions representedWestern Australia
Born (1989-07-13) 13 July 1989
Perth, Western Australia, Australia[2]
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)[2]
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
GymWAIS
College teamOregon State Beavers
Head coach(es)Martine George and Josh Fabian[3]
Retired2016
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Commonwealth Games
2014 GlasgowTeam

Personal life

Olivia Vivian was born on 13 July 1989 in Perth, Australia. Her father, Craig, was a plumber, and her mother, Gillian, is a real estate agent.[5] She started gymnastics when she was eight after originally being in ballet.[6] Her first gym was Claremont P.C.Y.C, and her first coach was Julia Clapsis. Her favourite apparatus is uneven bars.[3] Her father died of cancer in 2013.[7] She is in a relationship with fellow Australian Ninja Warrior finalist (seasons 1 & 2), Ben Polson. In season 4 in 2020, she lost to him by a photo finish at the Power Tower. Polson went on to become Australia's first ever Ninja Warrior, while Vivian became the first woman worldwide to advance to stage 2 of Grand Final.

Elite career (2005-2008)

Vivian competed at both the 2005 and 2006 World Championships. In 2005, she finished thirteenth on uneven bars, and in 2006, she finished twelfth on uneven bars and sixth with the team.[8]

2008 Olympics

Vivian was selected to represent Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics where she competed on uneven bars. She scored a 14.925 in the qualification round which helped Australia qualify fifth into the team final.[9] In the team final, Vivian scored a 15.100 to help Australia finish in a historic sixth place.[9]

Collegiate career (2009-2012)

Vivian competed for the Oregon State Beavers. She was limited to uneven bars her freshman year due to multiple injuries.[5] She helped Oregon State win the 2011 PAC-10 Conference Championships, their first Conference title since 1996.[10] Vivian was also the PAC-10 Co-Champion on uneven bars, and she finished sixth at the NCAA Championships.[5] In her senior year, she was the 2012 NCAA Regional Co-Champion on uneven bars.[5]

Elite comeback (2012-2016)

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Vivian competed on all four events and helped her team win the silver medal.[11] Despite having the 4th highest bar score on the uneven bars, she did not qualify into the apparatus event finals because of the two-per country rule.[12] She qualified eleventh into the all-around final with a score of 50.765, the highest of the Australian gymnasts.[13] In the all-around final, she finished fifth with a score of 52.632.[14] Vivian was selected to compete at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where she helped her team finish seventh.[15]

Olivia Vivian retired from gymnastics in October of 2016, and she joined Cirque Du Soleil.[7]

TV Appearances

Ninja Warrior

In 2017 she was a competitor in the inaugural season of Australian Ninja Warrior. In July 2018, she competed on Australian Ninja Warrior again for season 2. She was the only woman to make it to the Grand Final. She then competed on American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World in 2019 alongside Jack Wilson, (Australian Ninja Warrior (season 1) contestant, Bryson Klein (Australian Ninja Warrior (season 2) contestant), Ashlin Herbert, Australian Ninja Warrior (season 3) contestant and boyfriend, Ben Polson, also from Australian Ninja Warrior (seasons 1-4), who went on to become the first ever Australian Ninja Warrior winner in 2020.[16] In 2019, she became the only woman to make it to the Grand Final 2 years in a row. In 2020, she became the only female competitor worldwide to reach the second stage of Grand Final, and also finish 5 stages in a calendar year as she and Ben Poulson both also competed for Western Australia in the first State of Origin series. She also competed for Team Australia that won gold medal in the second season of American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World, which is a single-stage team event.

Ninja World Championships

In September 2019, Vivian competed in the inaugural Ninja World Championships in Moscow Russia, winning the Gold Medal in 4 minutes 00 seconds.[17] Her fastest run in the qualifying rounds of 3 minutes 15 seconds established the women's World Record[18] for the international standard 160m long "speed" course, a format used in the American Ninja Warrior American_Ninja_Warrior:_Ninja_vs._Ninja.

The Celebrity Apprentice

In September 2020, Vivian was announced as a celebrity contestant on the revived new season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia in 2021.[19][20]

References
  1. "Olivia Vivian". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  2. "Olivia Vivian". Sports Reference: Olympic Sports. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  3. "Olivia Vivian". Gymnastics Australia. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  4. "Australian gymnastics: Former athletes speak out on 'abuse' culture". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. "Olivia Vivian". Oregon State Athletics. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  6. "Everyday Champion: Olivia Vivian" (PDF). Oregon State Beavers. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  7. Emery, Ryan (29 October 2016). "Flipping from one stage to another, gymnast finds new career". SBS News. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  8. "Olivia Vivian". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  9. "Olivia Vivian". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  10. Buker, Paul (31 March 2011). "Meet Oregon State gymnastics star Olivia Vivian, the quick-witted Aussie teammates call 'grandma'". The Oregonian. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  11. "Gymnastic Artistic Women's Team Final". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  12. "Gymnastic Artistic Women's Uneven Bar Qualification". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  13. "Gymnastic Artistic Women's All-Around Qualification". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  14. "Gymnastic Artistic Women's All-Around Final". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  15. "45th ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Nanning (CHN) Women's Team Final Results" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  16. "American Ninja Warrior USA Vs The World 2019".
  17. "2019 Ninja World Championship Results".
  18. "Ninja World Speed Records".
  19. Knox, David (16 September 2020). "Upfronts 2021: Nine". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  20. "NINE UPFRONTS: MAJOR TENTPOLES RETURN + NINE REVIVES BEAUTY AND THE GEEK". TV Black Box. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
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