Mary Lou Retton is a retired American gymnast. She is now retired from the sport. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, Mary Lou Retton won gold in the individual all-around competition. She was the first American woman to win both the all-around and individual Olympic gymnastics gold medals.
Mary Lou was five-hundredths of a point behind the leader, Romanian Ecaterina Szabo, in one of the most dramatic moments in sports history. Mary Lou would only be able to win if she landed a perfect 10 on the vault. To everyone’s surprise, she got a perfect 10 and soon became an international phenomenon. She left the 84 games with five medals, including the aforementioned gold, two silvers, and two bronzes.
Retton remained in the public glare after the Olympics in a variety of ways, probably most famously as a supporter of the Reagan government. She went on to attend the University of Texas in Austin and starred in numerous television advertisements and endorsement efforts, most notably for Wheaties cereal.
Mary Lou Retton Illness
Mary Lou Retton made her first public comment after being hospitalized earlier this month for a rare form of pneumonia.
On October 30, the Olympic gold champion issued a statement to her Instagram followers.
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“I’m beyond blessed to have the opportunity to make this statement,” she wrote in her post shared to her personal account. “I am overwhelmed with all the love and support from the world as I fight. I am forever grateful to you all!”
“I’m with family continuing to slowly recover and staying very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process,” Retton continued her post.
“I appreciate everyone’s respect of my privacy at this time. When the time is right, I will be sharing more information about my health issues and hope I can help others who may face the same battle as me. I love you all. — MLR.”
Schrepfer stated that her mother has been responding “so well” to treatments and expressed gratitude to her followers for their “overwhelming love and support.” Schrepfer had told followers three days previously that Retton was “still fighting” in an Instagram video.
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Mary Lou Retton Gymnastics Career
Retton swiftly rose to prominence in gymnastics after joining the Karolyis. She won the American Cup at the age of 15 in 1983. The following year, she finished second at the US Nationals, narrowly behind Dianne Durham. She missed the World Gymnastics Championships because of a wrist injury, but she won the American Classic in 1983 and 1984.
Retton went on to win the 1984 US Nationals and qualify for the US Olympic Trials. She did, however, damage her knee while doing a routine. She felt her knee lock up while signing autographs and realized she had a major injury.
She was obliged to have knee surgery five weeks before the 1984 Summer Olympics. The emphasis was on her to heal quickly in order to compete well in the Olympics, especially since they were being held in the United States for the first time in 52 years. She healed in time to compete, however, and was able to perform.
Because the entire Soviet bloc, with the exception of Romania, had elected to boycott the Olympics, removing much of the traditional American-Soviet gymnastics combat, Retton was largely involved in a close race for the all-around gold medal with Romanian Ecaterina Szabo. Retton was initially trailing Szabo, who got higher scores on the uneven bars and balance beams.
She stunningly got perfect 10s on both the vault and the floor exercise, giving her the necessary lift to win. The victory was all the more impressive given her knee ailment and the speculation that it might impede her performance.
Retton won the gold medal by 05 points, becoming the first female gymnast from outside of Eastern Europe to do it. She was also the first American woman to win an Olympic all-around title. At the same Olympics, Retton also won two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Following the Olympics, Retton maintained her gymnastics career. She won the American Cup all-around competition for the third time in 1985. She then decided to retire from gymnastics at the age of 18 in 1986. On the uneven bars, one of Retton’s signature moves became known as “The Retton Flip,” and it consisted of a transition that featured perching on the high bar.
Due to stylistic changes in gymnastics over the years, the technique was eventually deleted from the Code of Points. Retton was honored with the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997. In January 2020, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame.
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