Mary Lou Retton

Mary Lou Retton, born in 1968, American gymnast, who won the gold medal in women's gymnastics in the all-around competition at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, becoming the first American to do so. Retton was born in Fairmont, West Virginia. At the age of seven she enrolled in a gymnastics class for children at West Virginia University. Within a few years she was considered one of the best young gymnasts in the United States, and in 1981 she was named to the U.S. junior national team. In 1982 Retton was invited to train at the U.S. Gymnastics Center in Houston, Texas, under renowned Romanian-born coach Bela Karolyi. The next year Retton became the first American woman to win the all-around title at Japan's Chunichi Cup competition, and she won the first of three consecutive American Cups (1983-1985).

At the 1984 Olympics Retton won five medals. In addition to the all-around gymnastics gold medal, she won a silver medal in the vault event and bronze medals in the floor exercise and uneven bars events. She also earned a silver in the team competition, as the American gymnastics team won its first Olympic medal since the 1948 Olympics in London. Retton's success in Los Angeles brought her instant fame, and she was named amateur athlete of the year by the Associated Press. In 1985 she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. She retired from competitive gymnastics in 1986.

Following her retirement, Retton pursued a career as a motivational speaker and an actor. She also served as a television commentator at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. In 1994 the U.S. Olympic Committee established the Mary Lou Retton Award for athletic excellence, and in 1995 Retton won the Flo Hyman Award from the Women's Sports Foundation for her accomplishments.