It’s been nearly 40 years since the famous Olympic routine that made Mary Lou Retton an overnight sensation and captured American hearts.
At the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, 4-foot-9 gymnastics superstar Retton vaulted to gold with a perfect score of 10; her becoming the first American in history to come out on top in the women’s individual all-around event.
In fact, she became the first American woman to win a gymnastics medal, period.
Such historic success at just 16 years old propelled the petite Fairmont teenager to new levels of fame; Retton and her teammates enjoyed a party at the home of famous entertainer Bob Hope before celebrations continued at Disneyland, a meeting with President Ronald Regan and a parade in New York City.
For Mary Lou alone, the historic gold medal convinced Wheaties to make her the first female athlete to appear on the front of its popular cereal box, while Sports Illustrated also named her Sportsperson of the Year.
Mary Lou Retton became the first American woman to win an individual gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Retton vaulted to gold with a perfect score of 10 and became an overnight sensation.
Thus, Retton had been catapulted to the forefront of American popular culture. By the end of her coronation year, she was arguably the most famous woman in the country.
The 40th anniversary of that 10 out of 10 showing in Los Angeles is even more poignant this year given the challenges and controversy Retton has faced over the past eight months.
In October, the Olympic legend had to fight for her life in hospital with a rare form of pneumonia after a neighbor found her lying on the floor of her room struggling to breathe.
Fortunately, the 56-year-old recovered from the illness, although her four daughters even said goodbye at one point for fear of not being able to make it through the night.
Retton’s children opened a SpotFund account when their mother was fighting for her life in an ICU, asking the public to help them with medical costs after claiming she had no insurance.
Ultimately, that account generated an estimated $500,000 in donations, only for the family to refuse to reveal where the money went amid scrutiny over their claims of not having health insurance.
“They didn’t deserve that,” Retton said of the criticism directed at her daughters earlier this year.
‘They were just trying to take care of me. I don’t care about the detractors. There are trolls everywhere. It’s what makes us America. Everyone has an opinion, but it is what it is.
The Olympic champion recently had to fight for her life in hospital due to pneumonia.
The athlete’s four daughters opened a SpotFund account while she was in the ICU, which sparked controversy when they refused to confirm where the $500,000 in donations would go.
Before his recovery, and the subsequent backlash over SpotFund donations, 40 years after Los Angeles 1984, America found itself once again rooting for Retton, this time as he battled pneumonia in the hospital.
Just like all those years ago, when she defeated Ecaterina Szabo of Romania to take gold, the iconic former gymnast showed her determination by moving forward and overcoming the disease.
Szabo headed into the 1984 Games as a pre-competition favorite in the women’s individual all-around event, and heading into her final event, the vault, only a perfect 10 would be enough to win the gold medal.
After promising coach Bela Karolyi that she would succeed, Retton spun in the air and performed a double Tsukahara, which consisted of a half roll from the springboard to the jumping table, followed by a back push, before making a flawless landing.
A perfect ‘10.00’ appeared on the scoreboard as an ecstatic Retton hugged Karolyi in joy, incredulous at the magnitude of the achievement she had just completed.
“I knew the takeoff was good,” he told reporters at the time. And he knew the vault was good. And I knew he would follow through.
“The largest vault ever created,” Karolyi added.
Retton’s gold medal triumph at the 1984 Games propelled her to new levels of fame.
The petite 16-year-old from Fairmont instantly became a household name in America.
However, one caveat to Mary Lou’s record-breaking triumph (and one she is still keenly aware of to this day) is that luck was on her side without Soviet gymnasts at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
The Soviets’ boycott of those Games along with several of their allies at the time meant that she was spared the task of competing with some of the strongest gymnasts on the planet, including the current world individual champion.
She became the first female athlete to star on a Wheaties cereal box.
However, highly regarded Romanians, including Szabo, were present in California, and Retton refuses to take any credit. “It was a big battle,” he said. “I earned my medal.”
As noted above, the new US Olympic superstar was everywhere after his crowning moment. She has appeared in countless movies, television shows, including the popular ballroom dancing show ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ and gymnastics tours, as well as Wheaties Boxes and Sports Illustrated magazine.
Retton instantly became a household name thanks to his heroics in Los Angeles. “It was so immediate and intense,” 1984 USA women’s gymnastics team captain Kathy Johnson said in 2021 of her dramatic rise to prominence.
After all, we were in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world. It blew up in the biggest, most dramatic way, in part because this is America. “It just grew exponentially.”
To this day, Retton remains one of the most iconic and recognizable figures in American sports.
When taking her four daughters to gymnastics classes, the former Olympic champion tries to keep a low profile and remain anonymous to other attendees. But it never lasts long.
Retton photographed with then-US President Ronald Regan after her historic success
By the end of 1984, she was arguably the most famous woman in America.
Retton remains one of the most popular and recognizable faces in American sports today.
“They knew it was me.” Christine Brennan of USA Today He remembered what he said in October of last year.
Three decades after she was voted “America’s Most Popular Athlete,” Retton will watch the next generation of American gymnasts battle for glory in Paris this summer.
Four-time gold medalist Simone Biles will hope to invoke the spirit of Mary Lou and add more to her collection, including in the full event, with trials still underway to find out who will join her at the 2024 Games.
Regardless of which athletes make it, it was Retton who laid the foundation and paved the way for them to achieve their Olympic dreams all those years ago in Los Angeles.
“She changed the landscape not only of gymnastics, but also, I think, of women in sports,” Johnson added. “She literally transported us to a whole new level.”
