At just 16 years old he won gold in the All Around in Los Angeles ’84, one of the 5 medals won at those Games. He suffers from a rare form of pneumonia
Mary Lou Retton, one of the greatest gymnasts in US history, gold in Los Angeles ’84 in the all-around, is hospitalized in intensive care in a Texas hospital where she has been fighting for her life for a week, as she said his daughter, McKenna Kelley, on social media. Retton has a very rare form of pneumonia and is unable to breathe on her own.
fundraising campaign
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Kelley has started a fundraising campaign for medical expenses, since her mother does not have health insurance. Mary Lou was only 16 years old when she enchanted the world of gymnastics and became the first American, both male and female, to win an Olympic medal in her sport. The native of Fairmont, West Virginia, scored two “10s” that gave her gold in the All Around competition: one of five medals, along with two silvers and two bronzes, won in Los Angeles.
on the cereal box
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“After Mary Lou we had to create a new type of gymnast who could impress with her robustness, energy and the physicality of her performances,” her former coach, Bela Karolyi, said in 2012. Retton was named the Associated Press Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1984, inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1985 and into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997. She was also the first woman to be depicted on a box of Wheaties cereals, an honor in the United States reserved only for the greats of sport. Retton, a mother of four, lives in Texas.
October 11 – 6.19pm
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