Mary Lou Retton
Encyclopedia
Mary Lou Retton is an American gymnast
and Olympic
gold medalist. She was the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe
to win the Olympic all-around title, after 14 Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles
.
,, of Italian
heritage (her family's original surname was "Rotunda"). Her father, Ronnie, operated a coal
-industry transportation equipment business. She attended Fairmont Senior High School
, but did not graduate. She competed in the Olympic games during her sophomore
year.
Retton lived in Houston, Texas
until 2009, when her family returned to West Virginia. She is married to former Houston real estate developer
Shannon Kelley, who now works for the Fairmont State University
athletic department. Together they have four daughters: Shayla Rae Kelley (born 1995), McKenna Lane Kelley (born 1997), Skyla Brae Kelley (born 2000), and Emma Jean Kelley (born 2002).
on television, Retton took up gymnastics in her hometown of Fairmont. 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 United States
, winning the American Cup
in 1983 and placing second to Dianne Durham (another Károlyi student) at the US Nationals that same year. Retton missed the World Championships in 1983 due to a wrist injury. Nevertheless, Retton won the American Classic in 1983 and 1984, as well as Japan's Chunichi Cup in 1983.
After winning her second American Cup, the US Nationals, and the US Olympic Trials in 1984, Retton suffered a knee injury when she was performing a floor routine at a local gymnastics center. She had sat down to sign autographs when she felt her knee lock, forcing her to undergo an operation. She recovered just in time for the 1984 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles, California. In the competition, which was boycotted by the Soviet bloc nations except for Romania
, Retton engaged in a close battle with Ecaterina Szabó
of Romania for the all-around title. Trailing Szabó (after bars and beam) being 15 hundredths behind, with two events to go, Retton scored perfect 10s on floor exercise and vault to win the all-around title by 0.05 points.
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
magazine's "Sportswoman of the Year
". She appeared on a Wheaties
box, and became the cereal's first official spokeswoman.
and an ardent Christian conservative
, she was an outspoken supporter of the Reagan Administration
in the United States. She appeared in a variety of televised ads supporting Ronald Reagan
. 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
.
Retton's hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia
named a road and park in the town after her. She retired from gymnastics after winning an unprecedented third American Cup title in 1985. She later had cameo appearances as herself in Scrooged
and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult.
During the 1990s, Retton worked as a spokeswoman for the U.S. drugstore
chain
Revco
. Retton was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
In 1993 the Associated Press
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
.
Retton has many commercial endorsements, including the first appearance by a female on a Wheaties
box. She is currently falling out of a piñata
in a Dairy Queen
commercial. She is also a frequent analyst for televised gymnastics and attended The University of Texas at Austin after the Olympics.'
, a series of five-minute segments on physical fitness which were broadcast between Saturday morning cartoons. A record album and diagram booklet was also made of the segments and sold.
In 1993, Retton appeared in the "Baywatch
" episode "The Child Inside".
In 2002, Retton starred in the television program Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop
.
In the Fox
TV show Glee
, Retton is said to be Sue Sylvester's "worst enemy".
In the summer of 2011, Retton appeared in a commercial for Dairy Queen
, in which she falls out of a piñata
.
She is also featured in the song "Somersault" by Zero 7 feat. Viktor Vaughn (MF DOOM)
, a condition aggravated by her years as a competitive gymnast. After experiencing increased pain she had hip replacement
surgery on her left hip in her mid-30s. Retton also suffered from incontinence
due to an overactive bladder, arthritis and hemorrhoids. She serves as a paid spokesperson for Biomet
and for Pfizer
to publicize treatment for these conditions. In October 2008, she visited the Biomet facility in Warsaw, Indiana and met the machinists who produced her hip implant.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
and Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medalist. She was the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
to win the Olympic all-around title, after 14 Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Personal life
Retton was born in Fairmont, West VirginiaFairmont, West Virginia
Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Nicknamed "The Friendly City". The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census...
,, of Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
heritage (her family's original surname was "Rotunda"). Her father, Ronnie, operated a coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-industry transportation equipment business. She attended Fairmont Senior High School
Fairmont Senior High School
Fairmont Senior High School is a historic secondary school located in Fairmont, West Virginia, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The school serves grades nine through twelve and is part of the Marion County School District...
, but did not graduate. She competed in the Olympic games during her sophomore
Sophomore
Sophomore is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the second year of study at high school or university.The word is also used as a synonym for "second", for the second album or EP released by a musician or group, the second movie of a director, or the second season of a...
year.
Retton lived in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
until 2009, when her family returned to West Virginia. She is married to former Houston real estate developer
Real estate development
Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved land or parcels to others...
Shannon Kelley, who now works for the Fairmont State University
Fairmont State University
Fairmont State University is a public university located in Fairmont, West Virginia, USA. Enrollment of the university is about 7,700 and offers masters degrees in business, education, teaching, criminal justice and nursing in addition to 90 baccalaureate and 50 associate degrees...
athletic department. Together they have four daughters: Shayla Rae Kelley (born 1995), McKenna Lane Kelley (born 1997), Skyla Brae Kelley (born 2000), and Emma Jean Kelley (born 2002).
Gymnastics career
Inspired by watching Nadia ComăneciNadia Comaneci
Nadia Elena Comăneci is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the first female gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer...
on television, Retton took up gymnastics in her hometown of Fairmont. She was coached by Gary Rafaloski. She then decided to move to Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, to train under Romanians Béla
Béla Károlyi
Béla Károlyi is a Romanian gymnastics coach. He was born in what was then Kolozsvár, Hungary, a region restored to Romanian administration after 1944. Károlyi and his wife, Márta, also of Hungarian origin, emigrated to the United States in 1981 and both have dual citizenships for Romania and the...
and Márta Károlyi
Marta Károlyi
Márta Károlyi , is an American gymnastics coach and the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics. Károlyi is originally from Romania, she and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians, and trained athletes there as well, but defected to the United States in 1981...
, who had coached Nadia Comăneci
Nadia Comaneci
Nadia Elena Comăneci is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the first female gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer...
before their defection to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Under the Károlyis, Retton soon began to make a name for herself in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, winning the American Cup
American Cup (gymnastics)
The American Cup, is an elite senior level international gymnastics competition held in the United States, and is generally considered to be one of the first major competitions of the Gymnastics season, as it is held in March or February of each year. In 1978-79 the event was sponsored by Dial and...
in 1983 and placing second to Dianne Durham (another Károlyi student) at the US Nationals that same year. Retton missed the World Championships in 1983 due to a wrist injury. Nevertheless, Retton won the American Classic in 1983 and 1984, as well as Japan's Chunichi Cup in 1983.
After winning her second American Cup, the US Nationals, and the US Olympic Trials in 1984, Retton suffered a knee injury when she was performing a floor routine at a local gymnastics center. She had sat down to sign autographs when she felt her knee lock, forcing her to undergo an operation. She recovered just in time for the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los Angeles, California. In the competition, which was boycotted by the Soviet bloc nations except for Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Retton engaged in a close battle with Ecaterina Szabó
Ecaterina Szabo
Ecaterina Szabo is an ethnic Hungarian former artistic gymnast from Romania who won 20 Olympic, world and continental medals...
of Romania for the all-around title. Trailing Szabó (after bars and beam) being 15 hundredths behind, with two events to go, Retton scored perfect 10s on floor exercise and vault to win the all-around title by 0.05 points.
At the same Olympics, Retton won four additional medals: silver in the team competition and the horse vault
Vault (gymnastics)
The vault is an artistic gymnastics apparatus, as well as the skill performed using that apparatus. Vaulting is also the action of performing a vault. Both male and female gymnasts perform the vault...
, and bronze in the floor exercise and uneven bars. For her performance, she was named Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
magazine's "Sportswoman of the Year
Sportsman of the Year
Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the "Sportsman of the Year" award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Americans are eligible, though in the past the...
". She appeared on a Wheaties
Wheaties
Wheaties is a brand of General Mills breakfast cereal. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on the exterior of the package, and has become a major cultural icon...
box, and became the cereal's first official spokeswoman.
Post-Gymnastics Career
A devout BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and an ardent Christian conservative
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
, she was an outspoken supporter of the Reagan Administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
in the United States. She appeared in a variety of televised ads supporting Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. Retton delivered the Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...
with fellow former gymnast and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kerri Strug on the second night of the 2004 Republican National Convention
2004 Republican National Convention
The 2004 Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York...
.
Retton's hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia
Fairmont, West Virginia
Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Nicknamed "The Friendly City". The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census...
named a road and park in the town after her. She retired from gymnastics after winning an unprecedented third American Cup title in 1985. She later had cameo appearances as herself in Scrooged
Scrooged
Scrooged is a 1988 American comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue...
and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult.
During the 1990s, Retton worked as a spokeswoman for the U.S. drugstore
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
chain
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
Revco
Revco
Revco Discount Drug Stores , once based in Twinsburg, Ohio, was a major drug store chain operating through the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Southeastern United States. The chain's stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RXR...
. Retton was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
In 1993 the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
released results of a sports study in which Retton was statistically tied for first place with fellow Olympian
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Stuart Hamill is an American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion in Ladies' Singles and 1976 World Champion.-Early life:...
as the most popular athlete in America.
In 1997, Retton was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics....
.
Retton has many commercial endorsements, including the first appearance by a female on a Wheaties
Wheaties
Wheaties is a brand of General Mills breakfast cereal. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on the exterior of the package, and has become a major cultural icon...
box. She is currently falling out of a piñata
Piñata
A piñata is a papier-mâché or other type of container that is decorated, filled with toys and or candy and then broken as part of a ceremony or celebration. Piñatas are most commonly associated with Mexico, but its origins are considered to be in China...
in a Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...
commercial. She is also a frequent analyst for televised gymnastics and attended The University of Texas at Austin after the Olympics.'
TV appearances
In 1985 Retton hosted ABC FunfitABC Funfit
ABC Funfit is a series of short American television segments that were broadcast in 1985 and aired twice a day during ABC's Saturday morning cartoon programs. The segments were five minutes long and presented exercises and information to promote children's physical fitness...
, a series of five-minute segments on physical fitness which were broadcast between Saturday morning cartoons. A record album and diagram booklet was also made of the segments and sold.
In 1993, Retton appeared in the "Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
" episode "The Child Inside".
In 2002, Retton starred in the television program Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop
Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop
Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop, a children's television series featuring Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton, was created to motivate young children to believe in themselves and get moving. The show takes place in a wacky Flip Flop shop and features 4 "real" children per episode and five...
.
In the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
TV show Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, Retton is said to be Sue Sylvester's "worst enemy".
In the summer of 2011, Retton appeared in a commercial for Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...
, in which she falls out of a piñata
Piñata
A piñata is a papier-mâché or other type of container that is decorated, filled with toys and or candy and then broken as part of a ceremony or celebration. Piñatas are most commonly associated with Mexico, but its origins are considered to be in China...
.
She is also featured in the song "Somersault" by Zero 7 feat. Viktor Vaughn (MF DOOM)
Medical conditions and endorsements
Retton was born with hip dysplasiaHip dysplasia (human)
Hip dysplasia, developmental dysplasia of the hip or congenital dysplasia of the hip is a congenital or acquired deformation or misalignment of the hip joint.-Terminology:...
, a condition aggravated by her years as a competitive gymnast. After experiencing increased pain she had hip replacement
Hip replacement
Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi replacement. Such joint replacement orthopaedic surgery generally is conducted to relieve arthritis pain or fix severe...
surgery on her left hip in her mid-30s. Retton also suffered from incontinence
Urinary incontinence
Urinary incontinence is any involuntary leakage of urine. It is a common and distressing problem, which may have a profound impact on quality of life. Urinary incontinence almost always results from an underlying treatable medical condition but is under-reported to medical practitioners...
due to an overactive bladder, arthritis and hemorrhoids. She serves as a paid spokesperson for Biomet
Biomet
Biomet, Inc. is one of the world leading medical device manufacturer located in the Warsaw, Indiana business cluster. The company specializes in reconstructive products for hips, knees and shoulders, fixation devices, orthopedic support devices, dental implants, spinal implants and operating room...
and for Pfizer
Pfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
to publicize treatment for these conditions. In October 2008, she visited the Biomet facility in Warsaw, Indiana and met the machinists who produced her hip implant.
Gymnastics legacy
Retton has an uneven bars move called "The Retton Flip", a transition (front flip) from low- to high-bar, resulting in the gymnast perched or "sitting" on top of the high bar. This move and many others like it are no longer in the Code of Points due to belly beating no longer in use on bars.External links
- Official website
- Where Are They Now?: Mary Lou Retton Photos & Info
- Mary Lou Retton's U.S. Olympic Team bio
- List of competitive results at Gymn Forum
- Mary Lou Retton 2007 Interview with Bela KarolyiBéla KárolyiBéla Károlyi is a Romanian gymnastics coach. He was born in what was then Kolozsvár, Hungary, a region restored to Romanian administration after 1944. Károlyi and his wife, Márta, also of Hungarian origin, emigrated to the United States in 1981 and both have dual citizenships for Romania and the...
on Sidewalks EntertainmentSidewalks EntertainmentSidewalks Entertainment is a long-running, weekly American television series that is a combination of a talk show, magazine show and variety show featuring celebrity interviews, music, artistic and novelty acts, and rising performers...