Mary Lou Retton, the first American to win a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, is reportedly fighting for her life per an update from her daughter, McKenna Kelley.
Kelley shared through Instagram on Tuesday, October 10, that her mother was fighting a rare form of pneumonia and has been in intensive care for over a week now. She also mentioned that Retton was fighting for her life and could not breathe on her own.
Mary Lou Retton, one of the greatest names in U.S. Olympic history, “has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life,” according to her daughter McKenna Kelley’s Instagram story. “She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now.” pic.twitter.com/9LnwOJNP1J
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) October 10, 2023
A fundraising page was put up on behalf of the 55-year-old Retton on Spotfund. It was also mentioned on that page that "America's Sweetheart" did not have insurance, ESPN reported.
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The fundraiser has so far raised about $17,000 as of this writing. The goal is to raise $50,000.
Mary Lou Retton is a fighter
Despite her current state, Retton has proven to be a tough customer when she was still actively competing.
While most remember her for winning the first gold medal for the United States at the 1984 Olympics in the all-around event, bagging it was not easy.
Retton had to undergo knee surgery weeks before the games. Despite this, the West Virginia native registered perfect 10 scores on the floor and vault, edging out Romania's Ecaterina Szabo by 0.05 points.
Aside from that, Retton also bagged four other medals. That includes a silver in the team competition and the horse vault and a couple of bronze medals in the floor exercise and uneven bars, per NBC Sports.
After competing in the American Cup all-around completion for the third and final time, the decorated gymnast officially retired in 1986.
Her accomplishments unsurprisingly catapulted her to fame. Aside from several endorsements, Retton made several TV and film appearances, including "Scrooged," "Baywatch" and "Knots Landing."
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