Iconic Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton charged with DUI
Global News
Retton shot to fame after winning five medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, including a gold medal in the all-around category.
Former Olympic gymnast and individual all-around gold medallist Mary Lou Retton has been arrested and charged with a DUI.
The retired athlete, 57, was arrested in Marion County, W.Va. — her home — earlier this month for “driving under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs,” according to the West Virginia judiciary.
She was later released after posting a US$1,500 bond.
Retton shot to fame after winning five medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, including a gold medal in the all-around category, making her the first individual American Olympic gymnast to win a medal in the sport.
She famously scored a perfect 10 in the vault event.
Her win landed her an ad campaign with Wheaties, with her face plastered across its cereal boxes, and catalyzed a surge in the sport’s popularity in the U.S.
After retiring from gymnastics, Retton appeared in several films and TV shows. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2020, Retton became the first woman to be selected into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame.
Retton made headlines again last year when her daughter, McKenna Kelley, announced that the former Olympian was in the ICU battling a rare case of pneumonia, saying in a social media post that her mother was “fighting for her life” and was unable to breathe on her own.
