Who is Mary Lou Retton?
Mary Lou Retton grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia and was born on January 24, 1968. Her parents were Ronnie and Lois Retton. She spent her beginning years training in gymnastics. She competed in the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles, California during her sophomore year of highschool. Her inspiration for gymnastics came from Nadia Comaneci who was the first gymnast to receive a perfect 10!. Mary Lou Retton went on to receive a perfect 10 at the olympics which gave her a gold medal in the individual all-round. She has had many injuries that tried to set her back but she persevered and used her experiences to learn from and show the world what she could do. Her setback with a wrist injury made her miss the World Gymnastics championships in 1983. Retton also sadly suffered a knee injury when she was performing a floor routine at a local gymnastics center in 1984. She became the first American woman to be an Olympic all-around champion. This was considered an honor she held alone until the ongoing five-peat of American all-around champions. She went on Dancing with the Stars and competed with Sasha Farber in 2018. She is currently 55 years old and has 4 kids. She was previously married to Shannon Kelley from 1990 to 2018. Mary Luo Retton is one of the most popular gymnasts of all time.
Her Big Accomplishments:
- She has been named Sports Illustrated's Sportswoman of the Year.
- She has won 5 olympic medals for the USA.
- She was the first American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in gymnastics.
