Mary Lou Retton: Gymnastics

American Star of the Women’s International Sports Hall of Fame

Photo: usatoday.com

Mary Lou Retton vaulted onto the world stage with her performance at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Retton scored a perfect 10 when she landed a flawless vault on an injured right knee. With that performance, she clinched the all-around gymnastics gold medal— an honor never before earned by an American. Her smile said it all in that moment, the pain had vanished, and all the time and hard work she invested had paid off. In that moment, a nation became smitten with this young woman and celebrated her achievement as if it was their own. Her accomplishment symbolized a dream coming true, the American dream.

Retton’s journey toward this golden moment began when she was seven years old and she first walked into a gymnastics class in her hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia. In a short time, she excelled and earned a spot on the U.S. junior national team. Retton’s enthusiasm for the sport garnered the attention of the famous gymnastics coach, Bela Karolyi. He extended an invitation to the 14- year-old to train at the U.S. Gymnastics Center in Houston, Texas. The dedicated little girl left everything she had ever known to follow her dream.

Romanian-born Karolyi coached the renowned Nadia Comaneci, who scored seven perfect 10s at the Montreal Olympic Games. It was Comaneci’s awe-inspiring performance that enthralled Mary Lou Retton. Rarely does an athlete have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of her childhood hero. Under Karolyi’s tough tutelage, Retton followed in Comaneci’s steps and honed her skills and perfected her talents.

After only a year of training with Karolyi, Retton attained her first international title. She won the all-around at Japan’s Chunichi Cup gymnastics competition, the first American woman to do so. She also earned the all-around title at the American Cup during the next three years. There was a new era in American gymnastics that began with the young Mary Lou, who breathed life and excitement into the sport. Before Retton emerged on the scene, U.S. gymnastics was struggling as the 1948 Olympic Games in London marked the last time an American team had won a gymnastics medal. Due to President Jimmy Carter’s boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, the United States had suffered eight years since the last Summer Olympiad. The long layoff, coupled with Retton’s previous international success, excited the nation. Sport inherently generates a sense of hope and belief in a common goal, whether one plays on the field or watches from the stands. Enthusiasm and interest blossomed as the date grew closer to the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Retton’s radiance and charisma delivered the magic of sport back into the nation’s consciousness.

Retton earned a silver medal in the vault event at the 1984 Games and two bronze medals in the floor exercise and the uneven bars. She helped the U.S. gymnastics team earn a silver medal in the overall team competition, the nation’s first medal performance in gymnastics in 36 years. The gold medal eluded her, but the all-around competition still remained. Going into the final event, Ekaterina Szabo, the favorite, led Retton by five-tenths of a point. Retton looked at Karolyi before the vault, and the coach’s steely response was simple, “Now or never!”¹ Only two months from knee surgery, Retton charged the vault with vigor and completed a full twisting layout double Tsukahara. Her pristine landing and graceful smile was truly a moment of perfection. Unanimously, the judges awarded perfect 10s and the American Mary Lou Retton captured the gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal. She was the first American woman to win gold in gymnastics and to date the only American to win the Olympic all-around title.

No other athlete matched her feat of earning five Olympic medals that summer in Los Angeles. Retton was now America’s sweetheart. She joined sports heroes like Michael Jordan as a household name, their likenesses gracing the front of the Wheaties Cereal box. Retton entered the “Wheaties Hall of Champions” in 1984 after her stunning performance and she became the first female athlete featured on the Wheaties Cereal box. Karolyi describes Retton’s performance as the sweetest moment in his career, topping Nadia Comaneci’s seven perfect 10 scores. It was not just the performance that catapulted her to fame, but Retton’s persona and how she was able to relate to everyone. Her energy and determination represented what makes America so great—the pursuit of dreams.

Nearly 10 years after that golden moment an AP poll in 1993 voted her the most popular athlete in America. Mary Lou’s performance nearly doubled the enrollment in gymnastics schools across the country. Even today, sometimes up to 10 times a day, women approach her to tell her that their own involvement in gymnastics and their college scholarships are because she inspired them. The downto- earth Retton accepts the honor with grace and humility. She has spent much of her time sharing her inspirational story with others through speaking engagements across the country. She has written books on her outlook on life and her experiences. She married Shannon Kelly, a financial analyst and a former Texas football player, and the couple currently resides in Texas with their four daughters. The young girl that captured America’s heart 24 years ago has grown up but her impact will never be forgotten.

Note

1. Eddie Pells. “America’s Still Smitten With Mary Lou,” AP Online, August 18, 2004. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-97969599.html. (Accessed January 20, 2008.)

This excerpt was written by Stacy Martin-Tenney.