Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired
gymnast. At the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's performance made her one of the most popular athletes in the United States. Her gold medal win was historic as Retton was the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal in Olympic gymnastics.
Early life
Mary Lou Retton was born on January 24, 1968, in
Fairmont, West Virginia. Her father, Ronnie, operated a
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
-industry transportation equipment business. She attended
Fairmont Senior High School, but did not graduate. She competed in the
1984 Olympic Games in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, during her sophomore year of high school.
Gymnastics career
Retton was inspired by watching
Nadia Comăneci outshine defending Olympic two-event winner
Olga Korbut on television at the
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
in Montreal, when she herself was eight years of age, and she took up gymnastics in her hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia. She was coached by Gary Rafaloski. She then decided to move to Houston, Texas, to train under Romanians
Béla and
Márta Károlyi, who had coached Nadia Comăneci before their defection to the United States. Under the Károlyis, Retton soon began to make a name for herself in the U.S., winning the
American Cup in 1983 and placing second to
Dianne Durham (another Károlyi student) at the
US Nationals that same year. Though Retton missed the
World Gymnastics Championships in 1983 due to a wrist injury, she won the American Classic in 1983 and 1984, as well as Japan's Chunichi Cup in 1983.

After winning her second American Cup, the U.S. Nationals, and the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984, Retton suffered a knee injury when she was performing a floor routine at a local gymnastics center at this time. She had sat down to sign autographs when she felt her knee lock, forcing her to undergo an operation five weeks prior to the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
, which were going to be held in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
—the first time the Summer Olympics had been held in the United States in 52 years. She recovered just in time for this most prestigious of tournaments, and in the competition, which was
boycotted by the Soviet bloc nations except for
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, Retton was engaged in a close battle with
Ecaterina Szabo of Romania for the all-around gold medal. Trailing Szabo (after uneven bars and balance beam) by 0.15 with two events to go, Retton scored perfect 10s on floor exercise and vault—the last event in an especially dramatic fashion, as there had been fears that her knee injury and the subsequent surgery might impair her performance.
[
] Retton won the all-around gold medal by 0.05 points, beating Szabo to become the first female gymnast from outside
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
to win the individual all-around gold. She also became the first American woman to be an Olympic all-around champion, which was an honor she held alone until the ongoing six-peat of American all-around champions. (In order:
Carly Patterson in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
in Athens,
Nastia Liukin in
2008 in Beijing,
Gabby Douglas in
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
in London,
Simone Biles in
2016 in Rio de Janeiro and
2024 in Paris and
Suni Lee in
2021 in Tokyo.)
At the same Olympics, Retton won four additional medals: silver in the team competition and the
horse vault, and bronze in the
floor exercise and
uneven bars. For her performance, she was named ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' Magazine's "
Sportswoman of the Year." She appeared on a
Wheaties box, and became the cereal's first official spokeswoman.
In 1985, Retton won the American Cup all-around competition for the third and final time. She retired in 1986.
Post-gymnastics career
Political views
Retton was an outspoken supporter of the
Reagan administration and appeared in a variety of television ads supporting
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
as well as appearing at a rally for his reelection campaign just a month after the Olympics in her home state of
West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
. Retton delivered the
Pledge of Allegiance with fellow former gymnast and 1996 Olympic gold medalist
Kerri Strug on the second night of the
2004 Republican National Convention.
[
]
Honors
Retton's hometown, Fairmont, West Virginia, named a road and a park in the town after her. In 1985, she received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member General
Chuck Yeager.
Retton was elected to the
National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1993, the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
released results of a sports study in which Retton was statistically tied for first place with fellow Olympian
Dorothy Hamill as the most popular athlete in America. In 1997, Retton was inducted into the
International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
In January 2020, Retton was the first woman inducted into the
Houston Sports Hall of Fame.
Compensated endorsements
During the 1990s, Retton worked as a spokeswoman, appearing in advertisements for the U.S. drugstore chain
Revco.
Retton has had many commercial endorsements, including bowling and shampoo. She was the first female athlete to be pictured on the front of a
Wheaties box, and General Mills stated that Wheaties sales improved after her appearance. In 2019, Retton became a spokesperson for
Australian Dream, a pain relief cream; and briefly, in 2023 as a spokesperson for Colonial Penn Life Insurance.
Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017
After the
USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal hit the news in 2016, the
Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 was introduced to the
115th Congress
The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January ...
. Retton and other members of USA Gymnastics met with the bill sponsor, Senator
Dianne Feinstein, with the aim of convincing her to drop the bill. Despite these efforts, on February 14, 2018, the act was signed into law and became effective immediately.
Film and TV appearances
*1985: ''
ABC Funfit''; hosted a series of five-minute segments on physical fitness which were broadcast between
Saturday morning cartoons
*1988: ''
Scrooged'' (comedy feature film); as herself
*1992: ''
Knots Landing'' (TV drama series); as herself in the episode "Letting Go"
*1993: ''
Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...
'' (TV series); episode "The Child Inside"
*1994: ''
An Evening at the Improv'' (improv comedy TV series); as herself
*1994: ''
Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult'' (comedy feature film); as herself
*2002: ''
Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop'' (PBS TV series)
*2014:
RadioShack Super Bowl XLVIII commercial "
The '80s Called"; cameo appearance
*2018:
27th season of ''Dancing with the Stars'' (competition TV series), partnered with
Sasha Farber; eliminated Week 6, 9th place
Personal life
Retton was born with
hip dysplasia, a condition that her years as a competitive gymnast aggravated. After experiencing increased pain from the condition, she underwent multiple
hip replacement
Hip replacement is a surgery, surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant (medicine), implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi/semi(half) repl ...
surgeries.
Retton lived in
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
until 2009, when her family returned to West Virginia. She moved back to Houston in 2012. In 1990, she married
Shannon Kelley, a former
University of Texas quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
and Houston
real estate developer who worked for the
Houston Baptist University athletic department as of 2012. Together they have four daughters: Shayla (born 1995),
McKenna (born 1997), Skyla (born 2000), and Emma (born 2002). McKenna was an NCAA gymnast at
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
, and Emma was an NCAA gymnast at the
University of Arkansas. Retton and Kelley were divorced in February 2018.
On October 10, 2023, Retton's daughter McKenna announced that her mother was critically ill with
pneumonia. Retton reportedly did not have health insurance and turned to
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...
to raise money for medical expenses. Retton returned home to recover later that month and issued a statement on October 30, 2023, saying "I'm with family continuing to slowly recover and staying very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process. When the time is right, I will be sharing more information about my health issues." The total sum collected as of January 22, 2024, was $459,234. Upon inquiry from ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', Retton would not comment on any details surrounding her medical issue nor how much of the donations were allocated toward her healthcare.
Her daughter said any "remaining funds" would go towards a charity, but failed to provide any details or timeline.
On May 17, 2025, she was arrested in
Marion County, West Virginia for
DUI.
See also
*
List of Olympic female gymnasts for the United States
*
List of Olympic medal leaders in women's gymnastics
References
External links
*
List of competitive results at Gymn Forum*
*
*
*
The "Retton Flip"at YouTube
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Retton, Mary Lou
1968 births
Living people
American female artistic gymnasts
American people of Italian descent
Gymnasts at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics
Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics
Gymnasts from Texas
Kelley family
Sportspeople from Fairmont, West Virginia
West Virginia Republicans
Texas Republicans
Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
U.S. women's national team gymnasts
Fairmont Senior High School alumni
Gymnasts from West Virginia
20th-century American sportswomen