Mary Lou Retton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Women's Artistic Gymnastics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | All-around | |
| Silver | 1984 Los Angeles | Team competition | |
| Silver | 1984 Los Angeles | Vault | |
| Bronze | 1984 Los Angeles | Uneven bars | |
| Bronze | 1984 Los Angeles | Floor exercise | |
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American gymnast. She was the first female gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Retton was born in Fairmont, West Virginia of Italian heritage (her family's original surname was "Rotunda").[1] Her father, Ronnie, operated a coal-industry transportation equipment business.[2] Retton is currently married to Shannon Kelley with four daughters: Shayla Rae (born 1995), McKenna Lane (born 1997), Skyla Brae (born 2000), and Emma Jean (born 2002)[3].
Retton was born with hip dysplasia and had a hip replacement.[4] Retton also suffered from an overactive bladder, as well as arthritis, and publicly spoke out about her problems to endorse medication.
[edit] Gymnastics career
Inspired by watching Nadia Comăneci on television, Retton took up gymnastics in her hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia. She was coached in Fairmont by Gary Rafaloski (Aerial Port Gymnastics). She then decided to move to Houston, Texas, to train under the Romanians Béla and Marta Károlyi, who had coached Nadia Comaneci before their defection to the United States. Under the Karolyis, 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 Karolyi student) in the US Nationals that same year. Retton, however, missed the World Championships in 1983 due to a wrist injury. Nevertheless, Retton managed to win the American Classic in 1983 and 1984, as well as Japan's prestigious 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 that forced her to undergo an operation. However, she recovered just in time for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. 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, to the delight of the patriotic audience. Trailing Szabó (after bars and beam) with two events to go, Retton scored perfect 10s on floor exercise and vault to win the all-around title by just 0.05 points.
At the same Olympics, Retton won four additional medals: a 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" (shared with fellow American Edwin Moses). She appeared on a Wheaties box, and became the cereal's first official spokeswoman. Her small stature led a wag at SPORT magazine to comment that "Her life-size picture now appears on the Wheaties box."
[edit] Post-Olympic career
A Christian conservative, during the 1980s she was an outspoken supporter of the Reagan Administration in the United States. She appeared in a variety of televised ads supporting Ronald Reagan, at the height of her popularity. Retton delivered the Pledge of Allegiance with fellow former gymnast and 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Strug on the fourth night of the 2004 Republican National Convention.
The people in Retton's hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia, were supportive of her Olympic endeavors. A street and park in Fairmont were later named after her. Retton retired from gymnastics after winning an unprecedented third American Cup title in 1985. She also has had cameo appearances as herself in Scrooged and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult.
During the 1990s, she worked as a spokeswoman for the eastern U.S. drugstore chain Revco. Retton was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.[5] In 1997 she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[6]
She has won many commercial endorsements, including an appearance (a first for a female[7]) on the front of a 75th Anniversary Wheaties cereal box.[8] She was the first female spokesperson for Wheaties.[9] She is also a frequent analyst for televised gymnastics.
[edit] Gymnastics legacy
Retton has a skill named after her on the uneven bars 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. Because the bars have been pushed further and further apart in the decades since she first performed that element, it is no longer possible to perform it.
As of 2006, Retton is currently the host of the children's program Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop. She currently resides in Houston, Texas, with her husband and four children.
[edit] References
- ^ Boston.com Local Search - Boston Globe Archives
- ^ MARY LOU RETTON: POWER AND FINESSE - Free Preview - The New York Times
- ^ Biography
- ^ Q&A with Mary Lou Retton Accessed June 13, 2007.
- ^ National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame
- ^ MARY LOU RETTON. International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Retrieved on May 12, 2007.
- ^ Wheaties Fun Facts - Wheaties
- ^ Mary Lou Retton Biography - Biography.com
- ^ The Best of the Best - The Seven Wheaties Spokespeople
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Where Are They Now?: Mary Lou Retton Photos & Info
- Mary Lou Retton at the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique profile page
- Mary Lou Retton's U.S. Olympic Team bio
- Mary Lou Retton at the Internet Movie Database
- List of competitive results at Gymn Forum
- Mary Lou Retton at TV.com
- Mary Lou Retton 2007 Interview with Bela Karolyi on Sidewalks Entertainment
| Preceded by Patty Sheehan |
Flo Hyman Memorial Award 1995 |
Succeeded by Donna de Varona |
|
|||||
