How Old Was Mary Lou Retton In the Olympics?

Gymnastics may have many proponents in the present milieu. From Biles to Chiles, the mats have emerged as a melting pot for diversity and talent. As we hearken back to a glorious female gymnast Mary Lou Retton, her legacy will cease to be erased from the sands of time. She’s also a national icon who has brought infinite glory to her country as its first female artistic gymnast gold winner at the Olympic Games. Her debilitating pneumonia affliction took the nation by surprise, and her fans didn’t hesitate to rally behind their role model. While fans have shown up with extensive support for Retton, some uncomfortable questions couldn’t be swept under the rug.

And yet, Mary Lou remains the national darling as she was in her zenith. The 1984 Summer Olympics will forever remain a moment to fall back on even for today’s gymnastics enthusiasts. So while fans keep re-watching her recent interview with Hoda Kotb, here’s a look back at her sprawling and illustrious career.

Mary Lou Retton’s crowning moment

Mary Lou Retton took up a liking for gymnastics in 1976, when she was eight years old. Born in 1968 in Fairmont, West Virginia, it was the myth named Nadia Comaneci who sparked the latent fire within Retton with her history-making 1976 Montreal Olympics. The Romanian’s routine prompted Mary Lou to start training, and it wasn’t long before she started attracting more attention to herself.

Winning the 1983 American Cup made her an overnight sensation. Having two coaches who previously had trained Comaneci herself was probably an added advantage, but Retton’s all-around performance that year wasn’t too shabby either. Her first and only Olympic Games appearance came the following year, when Retton was 16 years old. Here, her graceful and lithe sinews saw her clinching the gold in the All-around, silver in the Team event, silver in Vault, bronze in Uneven bars and bronze in the Floor exercise, respectively.

In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Retton made history by being the first American female gymnast to win the all-around gold. Her landmark performance was a record making one, which was broken by Carly Patterson in the 2004 Athens Olympics. But she had brighter days ahead, even after her pièce de résistance.

A contained life post-Olympics

While her Olympics brilliance came only five weeks after a wrist injury, her career seemed to be at the pinnacle of its game even the next year. In 1985, when Retton was 17 years old, she once again won the American Cup. The following year, Mary Lou Retton bid goodbye to her gymnastics career at 18.

Read more: Months After Mary Lou Retton Battling in the ICU, Daughter Reveals Real Reason for Not Getting Health Insurance

While her political beliefs made her a familiar face across the nation, they weren’t always on par with the national sentiment. And yet, as she recovers from a rare case of pneumonia, the fans wait with bated breath to see how Mary Lou Retton overcomes one more obstacle on her epic journey.

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