Olivia Vivian


Olivia Vivian 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. 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.

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. She started gymnastics when she was eight after originally being in ballet. Her first gym was Claremont P.C.Y.C, and her first coach was Julia Clapsis. Her favourite apparatus is uneven bars. Her father died of cancer in 2013. She is in a relationship with fellow Australian Ninja Warrior finalist, Ben Polson.

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.

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. In the team final, Vivian scored a 15.100 to help Australia finish in a historic sixth place.

Collegiate career (2009-2012)

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

Elite comeback (2012-2016)

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Vivian competed on all four events and helped her team win the silver medal. 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. She qualified eleventh into the all-around final with a score of 50.765, the highest of the Australian gymnasts. In the all-around final, she finished fifth with a score of 52.632. Vivian was selected to compete at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where she helped her team finish seventh.
Olivia Vivian retired from gymnastics in October of 2016, and she joined Cirque Du Soleil.

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 in 2019 alongside Jack Wilson, contestant, Bryson Klein, Ashlin Herbert, Australian Ninja Warrior contestant and boyfriend, Ben Polson, also from Australian Ninja Warrior. In 2019, she became the only woman to make it to the Grand Final 2 years in a row.