Mary lou retton age
Facts mary lou retton health issues
References [ edit ]. Retrieved February 24, International Olympic Committee. January 13, Team USA. Archived from the original on January 27, March 26, July 21, Retrieved January 22, March 4, The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, The Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved November 13, The Biography Channel.
April 2, Retrieved January 17, June 30, Retrieved December 15, NBC Sports. Retrieved June 4, Retrieved March 9, New York Times. September 1, Retrieved August 18, American Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on March 30, The Daily Gazette. Associated Press. C6 — via Google News.
Women's Sports Foundation. Archived from the original on June 20, International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 28, Harris County Houston Sports Authority. February 14, Retrieved January 14, She continued to compete as well, becoming the American Cup Champion for the third time in That same year, she was inducted into the U.
Olympic Hall of Fame. Retton, however, was beginning to change gears. Hoping to instill some balance in her life, Retton retired from her sport in I was finally on my own. Retton encountered jealousy and gossip aplenty in college. She put on weight, sank in spirits, and eventually dropped out of school—a move she regretted for years. But her ebullient nature demanded she not stay down for long.
Fundamentally upbeat of personality, Retton began to carve out an adult life for herself. Her celebrity gave her an opening into the lecture circuit, and she quickly found her niche as a motivational speaker. The inspirational tome was designed to help people achieve some of Retton's trademark optimism. A large source of Retton's happiness was her family.
While retaining her customary sense of humor in telling Bob Dart of the Austin American—Statesman shortly after Emma's birth, "I am so done," Retton's family had replaced sports as her passion. Winning gold at the Olympics brought much joy to my life—but having a family is the most important thing. I'd happily give up all five of my medals to preserve the joy and love that my family brings me every day.
There's no comparison. Although Retton's priorities had altered and matured, the world of sports continued to honor her long after her retirement. Among those accolades were the creation of the Mary Lou Retton Award for athletic excellence by the U. At the turn of the century, over 15 years after her stunning Olympic victory, she was named one of the ten most popular athletes to appear on a box of Wheaties.
Clearly, the diminutive bundle of energy who delighted the world at 16 still had a hold on its heart. Retton was the youngest of five children and the second daughter of Lois Retton, a homemaker, and Ronnie Retton, a security guard who later formed his own company repairing transportation cables for the coal-mining industry. Everyone in Retton's family was athletically inclined.
Her father had been a sixth man for the West Virginia University basketball team, and later was signed to a minor league contract to play shortstop for the New York Yankees. Retton's three brothers were baseball players, and her sister was an All-America gymnast at West Virginia. At age four Retton began taking dance classes with her sister at Monica's Dance Studio.
The following year Lois found one-hour gymnastics classes for her daughters at West Virginia University, and later they began taking lessons at the Aerial-port, a small, newly opened gym in Fairmont. At age eight, Retton was inspired to achieve great heights in the sport of gymnastics while watching Nadia Comaneci amaze the world with her talent and three gold medals at the Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
Retton took part in her first competition in at Parkersburg, a town on the Ohio border. Although she did not win, a short while later she was victorious in a tournament for beginners. In school she was a Pop Warner majorette and the Pee Wee football homecoming queen, as well as a top student. She was also a good sprinter, placing second in a Hershey's track and field competition at age eleven.
By age twelve Retton was serious about gymnastics, and her dedication and talent were evident. She had done so well at the beginners' level that she was permitted to skip the intermediates and move on to Class I competitions, including the nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She entered her first international meet in Canada, where she won the all-around event.
Mary lou retton health issues: Discover 34 incredible facts about Mary Lou Retton, the Olympic gymnastics icon, as we delve into her inspiring journey and remarkable achievements.
Retton was still a student at Fairmont Catholic School when she went to compete in the junior nationals in Salt Lake City , Utah, where she and her father spoke with the renowned coach. This was a difficult time for her family, since Karolyi's acceptance of Retton as a student meant that her training would take her to Houston. She had to leave high school and continue her classes through correspondence courses.
Approximately two weeks after her move to Houston, Retton's decision paid off. She achieved her first perfect "10" in the vault in the qualifying meet for the U. Not everything was easy, however.
Facts mary lou retton
Retton was constantly in pain from all the broken bones and other injuries sustained during her extensive training. In she was unable to compete in the World Championships after missing the trials due to a broken wrist. She made up for it, however, by becoming the first American to win the Chunichi Cup in Japan.
From autumn to the Olympic Games in , Retton was victorious in an amazing fourteen consecutive all-around competitions. Six weeks before the Los Angeles Olympics, however, Retton's right knee began to feel uncomfortable. Doctors warned her that she would not be able to compete in the long-awaited games because she had torn the cartilage in her knee and would require surgery.
Retton had other plans and completed her three-month rehabilitation work in three weeks. Retton defied the usual image of the wisp-thin female gymnast, with a solid, muscular build that gave her exceptional power. In she achieved what no other U. She was also a member of the silver medalist team from the United States , captured an individual silver medal in the vault, and earned bronze medals in the uneven bars and the floor exercise.
As a result of winning five medals, she became the athlete with the most medals at the Olympics. In she was inducted into the U. Retton became an official spokesperson for Wheaties cereal; the first woman featured on the front of a Wheaties box, she also appeared in several television commercials for the product.
After her Olympic successes, Retton retired as a competitive gymnast and worked as a sportscaster, which included providing commentary for the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. She also worked as a motivational speaker, encouraging young people to reach for their goals, and saying, "You've got to give your dream everything you've got.
When it gives you so much, you have to give back the pride, inspiration, and enthusiasm to others. Retton is married to Shannon Kelley, an investment broker, with whom she has three daughters. Her retirement from gymnastics competition has freed Retton to pursue other high-risk activities such as roller blading and skiing, which were off-limits during training.
Enthusiasm and exuberance combined with talent and dogged persistence have enabled Retton to become America's sweetheart. Nine years after achieving victory and earning the only U. Since then, the image of the young woman with the radiant smile remains indelibly etched in the minds of Americans everywhere.
Retton, Mary Lou gale. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. America's Sweetheart Retton was soon dubbed "America's Sweetheart" by the media.
Facts mary lou retton divorce
Always Positive Fundamentally upbeat of personality, Retton began to carve out an adult life for herself. Periodicals American Fitness, January Fresno Bee, June 30, Investor's Business Daily, April 24, PR Newswire, August 26, Sports Illustrated, July 18, Louis Post—Dispatch, October 10, ; January 24, Teen, May Texas Monthly, September Times London, England , September 30, Adriana C.
More From encyclopedia. Updated Aug 18 About encyclopedia. Mary Kingsley. Mary Kay, Inc. Mary Kay Wagner Ash. Mary Kay Cosmetics. Mary Jo Schmerr. Retton was eventually diagnosed with hip dysplasia, meaning her hip joint abnormally developed from birth. This, coupled with the myriad vaults and handsprings she performed over the course of her career, had caused her hip to deteriorate into end-stage arthritis.
In , she had a total hip replacement. In , Retton revealed she had undergone 19 surgical procedures , including back surgery prompted by a degenerative bone disorder. In October , her daughter McKenna revealed that Retton was hospitalized in the intensive care unit with a rare form of pneumonia and unable to breathe on her own. The Biography.
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Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. She was raised in a religious home, but became more involved in the church when she was raising a family of her own.
Shannon kelley
After moving away from her parents and siblings to train full-time, Mary Lou Retton prioritized marriage and motherhood during her post-gymnastics life. She wed former college football player Shannon Kelley in ; the two met at the University of Texas where Kelley was the quarterback and Retton was taking some classes.
Retton's busy but fulfilling family life was a frequent topic in her motivational speeches. But, ironically, all that time spent on the road inspiring others upwards of 15 days a month was part of what eventually drove her and Kelley apart. Retton admitted that her speaking engagements and sponsorship deals put strain on her relationship per Baptist Press , and the couple divorced in February after 27 years of marriage.
But Retton didn't share that information with the public at large until November of that year, during the episode of "Dancing with the Stars" in which she and her partner, Sasha Farber, were eliminated. She hoped that opening up about the decision to end her long marriage might help other women in similar situations. Though Mary Lou Retton was one of gymnastics' brightest stars, her legacy was tarnished by her stance during the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the sport.
Beginning in , women treated by Team USA doctor Larry Nassar began coming forward with allegations that he'd touched them inappropriately during physical examinations. In the years that followed, hundreds of victims provided statements against Nassar, who eventually lost his job at Michigan State University as well as his medical license, and is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence.
However, his accusers — including superstars Simone Biles , Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney — weren't satisfied that what they saw as a systemic problem had been solved. They suspected that the powers that be within the sport knew about the abuse and could've stopped it sooner. They were right. As it turned out, there were 54 complaints on file with USA Gymnastics.
With the victims' support, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California introduced the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Acts to Congress in , which was intended to make it a federal crime not to report suspected abuse within athletic organizations. The gymnastics federation offered sympathy to the victims, but didn't officially apologize and fought Feinstein's proposed measures.
Retton sided with USA Gymnastics and described the environment within the sport as "happy" and "safe. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Most recently, Mary Lou Retton has been in the news because of a serious health scare. In October, Retton's daughters took to the internet to share that their mother had been hospitalized.
She added that Retton was currently in the ICU and wasn't able to breathe on her own, but declined to provide further details out of respect for what she called her family's privacy. While it's certainly shocking to think of the physically gifted Retton, who's only 55 years old, in such a vulnerable and precarious position, health-wise, it was even more shocking for the world to learn that the celebrity athlete and media personality was uninsured.
The fundraising effort quickly exceeded its goal thanks to Retton's many concerned fans. But just as many internet users were put off by what they perceived to be a choice not to have health insurance.