Tragic Details About Olympic Gymnast Mary Lou Retton

Mary Lou Retton made history at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles when, at age 16, she won five medals — more than any other athlete at the games. One of those medals was the gold in the individual all-around competition, which had never been done by an American before. She became America's sweetheart during the games with her athletic ability, bright smile, and sunny personality, and Retton was named "Sportswoman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated and "Amateur Athlete of the Year" by the Associated Press after her record-breaking performance.

As beloved as she was (and is!) and with five Olympic medals to her name — an accomplishment not many can claim — Retton's life hasn't been all smiles and podium appearances. She's definitely had her share of hard times, and it includes both physical and mental pain and stress.

For starters, Retton's stunning 1984 Olympics performance almost didn't happen due to an injury just five weeks before the start of the games. She had to have knee surgery to repair cartilage damage and get back in shape in time for the Olympics. "I did three months' rehabilitation in 3 weeks," Retton said. "It hurt. Oh, how it hurt! It hurt just to walk. But I had to do it," as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

While Mary Lou Retton's knee surgery just a couple of weeks before the 1984 Olympics was a definite setback, she was able to overcome it. However, that was hardly the first physical hurdle she'd overcome. Retton's gymnastics prowess is made all the more impressive when you realize that she was born with hip dysplasia, which means the femur can more easily pop out of place because of how the hip joint was formed.

In her 30s, she started to develop arthritis and joint pain, including in her hips, and it got to the point where everyday activities were causing her to suffer. Eventually, she had to have both of her hips replaced. Those are just two of many surgeries that she's had throughout her life, far more than most people have had at her age. Then again, most people didn't spend hours in the gym every day when they were young, so it's perhaps not as unusual for someone who experienced such physical stress.

"When I was in the Olympics, we worked out all day long," Retton told Woman's World. "It was literally eight hours every day. I lived it. I breathed it. I ate it. I slept it. Gymnastics is a very brutal sport, especially back in the 80s. Our equipment was pretty unforgiving. We would do 60 or 70 vaults a day and land on the hard surface." That would be enough to take a toll on anyone's body.

Mary Lou Retton's training had long-term impacts on her body and it also involved other sacrifices. She moved from her home in West Virginia to Houston, Texas to train with Bela Karolyi, a Romanian coach who had defected from his home country in 1981. Before he defected, Karolyi had coached Nadia Comaneci, the same Comaneci whose first-ever perfect 10.0 score and three gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal inspired Retton to work towards similar Olympic achievements. To train with such focus and so far away from home, Retton dropped out of high school. "I really miss the proms and going to the games and my classmates and all," Retton told Sports Illustrated in 1984 before the Olympics, "but I've got this thing I've got to do first."

Retton's training with Karolyi certainly came with its own challenges; he was known for being a particularly tough teacher. Retton once fell from the uneven bars during practice because of pain from a broken finger: "I started bleeding from the mouth," Retton told Texas Monthly, "and as much as I tried not to, I started to cry. And Bela just got really mad at me. He said, 'Get back on the bar.' I was just gushing blood. I tried to get back on the bar. I couldn't do it. So he said, 'Okay, then get out of the gym! You're through!'"

Mary Lou Retton lost some respect from some within the gymnastics community during the Larry Nassar scandal and the abuse uncovered in the United States Gymnastics Association (USGA). It all ties in with Bela Karolyi and his wife Marta Karolyi. The couple built a powerhouse gymnastics program in Texas — Karolyi Ranch, and many of the athletes that he trained went on to compete in and win at the Olympics. Karolyi Ranch became the official training facility for USA Gymnastics in 2001  and in 2011, it became an official Olympic training center. 

Nassar was a team doctor who sexually abused gymnasts while at Karolyi Ranch, and some survivors felt that the Karolyis should also have been charged for not noticing and/or reporting the abuse earlier. Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman told The Washington Post in 2018 that the atmosphere at Karolyi Ranch helped contribute to creating an environment where Nassar could abuse the young athletes.

Details about the allegations are unveiled in the 2020 documentary "Athlete A." As for how it ties to Retton — as the Nassar sexual abuse was uncovered in 2016, Retton met with Senator Dianne Feinstein over her sponsorship of the "Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017." Retton and others from the USAG were there to talk about how the bill wasn't necessary, according to The New York Times. Regardless of their intervension ,the bill ended up becoming law.

Mary Lou Retton returned to competition as one of the contestants in Season 27 of "Dancing With The Stars." While on the show, she revealed to her dance partner Sasha Farber that she'd recently gone through one of the most challenging times of her life. "I went through a divorce," Retton revealed. "People don't know that. It's the first time I've actually said it publicly," as reported by People.

She and her husband Shannon Kelley had been married for 27 years and have four children together. Retton was the one filed for divorce, and her November 2017 filing included a temporary restraining order against Kelley to disallow him from being threatening to her or their children.

Retton talked about what it felt like for her marriage to come to an end. "In my mind I was like, 'I lost, I am a failure,'" Retton told Extra after her "Dancing With The Stars" elimination. But thankfully, she was able to get past that feeling, "We're just moving on, we're just moving on, it's all good, the relationship is still there," Retton said of her and her husband.

Mary Lou Retton is no stranger to hospitals, considering the number of orthopedic surgeries she's had, but in October 2023, she was hospitalized for a rare form of pneumonia. In a January 2024 interview with Hoda Kotb on Today, in which she still had to have supplemental oxygen, Retton talked about the extent of her illness, and her eldest daughter Shayla Schrepfer said doctors told her, "'We don't know if she's going to make it through the night.'" Schrepfer kept people up to date about her mom's condition on social media.

After more than a week in the ICU, McKenna Lane Kelley, another of Retton's daughters, created a crowdfunding page for her mom on Spotfund asking for people's prayers and money towards her hospital costs. Kelley wrote of her mom, "She is not able to breathe on her own. [...] she [is] not insured." It raised over $450,000.

Retton explained her lack of insurance during her Today appearance. "When COVID hit and after my divorce, and all my pre-existing — I've had over 30 operations of orthopedic stuff — I couldn't afford it." During the pandemic, Retton had fewer speaking engagements, which would have had an impact on her income. She'd apparently been set to sign back up for health insurance shortly before she was hospitalized. Here's hoping the Olympic star has some easier years ahead of her!