Mary Lou Retton

Mary Lou Retton Kelley
— Gymnast —
A portrait of Mary Lou Retton as a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 2004.
Personal information
Nickname(s)	America's Sweetheart
Country represented	United States
Born	(1968-01-24) January 24, 1968 (age 49) Fairmont, West Virginia
Height	4 ft 9 in (145 cm)
Weight	93 lb (42 kg)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Club	Karolyi Gym
Former coach(es)	Béla Károlyi, Márta Károlyi
Retired	1985
Medal record Women's gymnastics Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles All-around 1984 Los Angeles Team 1984 Los Angeles Vault 1984 Los Angeles Uneven bars 1984 Los Angeles Floor exercise

Mary Lou Retton Kelley (born January 24, 1968) is a retired American gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performance made her one of the most popular athletes in the United States.

Retton was the first ever American woman to win the all-around gold medal at the Olympics and was the only one to do so for twenty years. She is credited with being a pioneering figure in American women's gymnastics, including by the four American women who have since equaled her feat consecutively: Carly Patterson (Athens in 2004), Nastia Liukin (2008 in Beijing), Gabby Douglas (2012 in London), and Simone Biles (2016 in Rio de Janeiro). Twice during that span, Americans also took silver as part of a one-two finish: Shawn Johnson in 2008 and Aly Raisman in 2016. Furthermore, prior to Retton's Olympic triumph, no American woman had won all-around gold at the World Championships; since then, seven Americans have done so a combined ten times - in chronological order, Kim Zmeskal, Shannon Miller (twice), Chellsie Memmel, Shawn Johnson, Bridget Sloan, Jordyn Wieber and Biles (three times).

Mary Lou Retton was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, of Italian heritage (her family's original surname was "Rotunda"). Her father, Ronnie, operated a coal-industry transportation equipment business. She attended Fairmont Senior High School, but did not graduate. She competed in the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles, California during her sophomore year of high school. She is a devout Baptist.