Mary Lou Retton Has Pneumonia and ‘Is Fighting for Her Life,’ Daughter Says

The gymnastics champion sprang to stardom at the 1984 Olympics, where she became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the all-around competition. Her family is raising money online, saying she lacks health insurance.

Mary Lou Retton raises her hands and smiles while competing in 1984.

May Lou Retton at the 1984 Olympics, where she won five medals.

Mary Lou Retton, who became one of the most popular athletes in the country after winning the all-around women’s gymnastics competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, has pneumonia and is “fighting for her life” in the intensive care unit, her daughter said in a statement this week.

Retton’s daughter McKenna Lane Kelley said on Instagram that her mother “is not able to breathe on her own” and that she had been in the intensive care unit for more than a week.

Kelley asked for donations to help pay for her mother’s hospital bills, saying her mother lacked health insurance. By Wednesday, she had raised more than $260,000 online from more than 4,600 donors.

She did not share more specific information about her mother’s condition, though she said that her pneumonia was “a very rare form.” It was not clear what hospital Retton was in.

Kelley, who was a gymnast at Louisiana State University, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, another daughter, Shayla Kelley Schrepfer, released a video on Instagram thanking people for “all the love and support that you’ve given to my mom.”

“She’s still fighting,” Schrepfer said. “It’s going to be a day-by-day process, and we hope that you guys will respect her boundaries, as we want to keep the details between her and our family right now. She has been treated with the best of the best professionals here, and it has been such a blessing to have their hands on her.”

At the 1984 Olympics, Retton became the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal or any individual Olympic medal in gymnastics. Going into the final rotation of the competition, she was five-hundredths of a point behind Romania’s Ecaterina Szabo, and the only way she could beat Szabo was to score a perfect 10 on vault.

Retton scored a perfect 10.

She won five medals in Los Angeles, including two silvers, for team and vault, and two bronzes, for uneven bars and floor exercise.

A closeup of Mary Lou Retton, smiling.
Mary Lou Retton in 2009.Credit…Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Though there was an asterisk by Retton’s victory in the history books — the Soviet Union, which was the most dominant force in women’s gymnastics at the time, boycotted the 1984 Games — it nonetheless made her a sports hero in the United States. In addition to earning her the traditional trappings of Olympic gold, like appearing on a Wheaties box, she was widely viewed as an inspiration to a new generation of American girls entering gymnastics.

Even as the American gymnastics program grew and the country won more medals, including the team gold in 1996, Retton’s prominence remained: For 20 years, Retton, now 55, was the only American woman to win the all-around title, until Carly Patterson became the second in 2004.

Retton was born in Fairmont, W.Va., and got her start early, like many top gymnasts. By the time Retton was 7 years old, she was training in gymnastics full-time.

Retton’s talent had been apparent from the start, but a big break came at an Olympics elimination tournament in Reno, Nev., in 1982, where she impressed Bela Karolyi, who would go on to coach her in the 1984 Olympics.

“I immediately recognized the tremendous physical potential of this little kid,” Karolyi said in a March 1984 interview.

Retton appeared in a number of films and TV shows in the late 1980s and 1990s, including the comedy film “Scrooged.”

After her athletic career, Retton became a motivational speaker to promote the benefits of proper nutrition and regular exercise.

4 times Taylor Swift went makeup-free and looked flawless

Swifties, her devoted fan group, are well-known for her gorgeous makeup appearances in addition to her musical prowess and amorous exploits. Ever before her breakout single “Tim McGraw” reached the top of the Billboard charts in 2006, the singer has dabbled in a range of cosmetic appearances. In addition to lengthy lashes, Swift has also dabbled in pink tones, blue eyeliner, dark, smokey eyes, and cat eyes that are “sharp enough to kill a man.” Not to mention how flawlessly she’s worn every red lipstick. Have you ever pondered, though, how Taylor Swift looked by herself?

The star has openly admitted to have the reasonable but unwanted tendency of forgetting to remove her makeup, despite her appearing flawless beauty. In 2011, Swift told Allure, “I don’t always remember to remove my makeup. Alright, pretty much all the time.” The pop queen, though, appears just as stunning without makeup as she does when taking the stage at her sold-out gigs and appearing on TV.

paired with a grin

On January 22, 2019, Taylor Swift shared a carefree selfie wearing a denim jacket, lovely dirty blonde hair brushed to the side, and minimal makeup. She put a smile next to her “Cats” character, Bombalurina, with the proper hashtag, “Meow,” in the caption of the picture. Even without makeup, the celebrity had gorgeous eyes, full lips, and clear skin. With raised eyebrows and a slightly menacing appearance, this selfie radiates a dynamic feeling, which is enhanced by the absence of cosmetics.

Still, what can we say? You really are lovely.

On October 24, 2022, Taylor Swift demonstrated that makeup is not required to take a depressing photo, especially when she was announcing the release of her most current album. The musician, dressed in fairytale-inspired clothing, looked stunning without makeup, gazing off into the distance with her hair styled in a braided bun. The ad image’s description went on, “Midnight, such a famous and storied hour… This sparkling evening, I’ll be offering my personal interpretation of a well-known fable. Given the success of her “Midnights” album, this picture not only demonstrated Swift’s natural beauty but also her inner and outer brilliance.

True Swifties all know that Taylor Swift loves to look nice in sweaters, or should we say, cardigans. On October 24, 2018, the artist disclosed her love for turtlenecks—possibly more than her taste in makeup. The music diva flaunted her famous blond bangs and gorgeous blue eyes in a photo she took while sporting a black, form-fitting turtleneck. The post’s description joked, “Here we can observe an Australian swiftlet in her natural habitat, a turtleneck.” The subsequent images in the post showcase Swift experimenting in a natural Australian location, contributing to the grounded and organic vibe of the selfie.

Never go out of style

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, almost all active social media users posted at least one picture of themselves taken at home without makeup and captioned it with something about how bored they were. Following the trend, Taylor Swift shared a stunning makeup-free selfie on Instagram on April 27, 2020. She added, “Not a lot going on at the moment,” as the caption for the photo, her characteristic blond curls hanging just over her clavicle as she looked straight into the camera. Swift’s caption discussed the lockdown experience, but what really caught viewers off guard—or not—was how beautifully makeup-free Swift appeared.

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