Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton is in intensive care with pneumonia
Updated: 5:41 AM EDT Oct 11, 2023
WEBVTT I AM SURE YOU WILL BE BUSY ASKIDS ARE GETTING BACK TO SCHOOL. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.>> AS THE SUMMER GAMES TAKEPLACE IN RIO, AMERICANS ARETURNING THEIR ATTENTIONS TOWARDTHE AMAZING ABILITY OF ATHLETEONE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST, MARYLOU RETTON, IS ALSO WATCHINGJUST AS CLOSELY.THE DECORATED GYMNAST CONTINUESHER WORK AS A HEALTH AND FITNESSAMBASSADOR PROMOTING THEBENEFITS OF EXERCISE AND HEALTHYNUTRITIOWE ARE HONOR TO HAVE MARY LOURETTON JOINING US LIVE THISMORNING TO TALK ABOUT THAT AND ANEW CAMPAIGN CALLED DEAR FUTURE, ME.THANK YOU FOR CHATTING US –CHATTING WITH US THIS MORNING. GOOD MORNING.>> WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THE GAMESIN RIO THI YEAR, AND THIS SUPERFIVE? WHEN YOU WIN A GYMNASTICSCOMPETITION BY EIGHT POINTS, ITIS UNHEARD OF.IT IS JUST RIDICULOUS.NOBODY C TOUCH TEAM USA ANDI’M SO INCREDIBLY PROUD. SPECIFICALLY SIMON BILES,SHE IS OUTSTANDING AND PEOPLESAY SHE DEFIES GRAVITY.WHAT DO YOU THINK?>> TRULY GIFTED.HER COACH DOES A REALLY GOOD JOBOF COACHIN HER, BUT SIMONE ISJUST GIFTED.GIVEN BY GOD.YOU CAN IMPROVE ON THAT BUT YOUDO NOT TEACH WHAT SIMONE BILESHA.I LOOK FOR HER TO RUN AWAY WITHTHE ALL-AROUND COMPETITIONTOMORROW.I AM VERY PROUD OF ALY RAISMAN.THEY CALL HE GRANDMA, BUT WHATLEADERSHIP.SHE IS TEA CAPTAIN, THEY ALLRESPECT HER.SHE IS THE CHEERING FOR THEYOUNGER ONES LIKE LORIHERNANDEZ, AND I AM SUPER PROUD.AN GABBY, THE REIGNING WORLDCHAMPION, IT IS HARD TO COMEINTO THAT ROLE AS A DEFENDINGOLYMPI CHAMPION AND SHE PLAYEDA SIGNIFICANT ROLE LAST NIGHT. IS IT HARD FOR YOU TO SITBACK AND BE A SPECTATESPECIALLY AFTER WINNING GOLD IN1984?>> A LITTLE BIT.I LIKE TO S BACK LIKE THE RESTOF AMERICA AND SCREAM AND YELLAND CHEER, BUT I AM WIRED LIKE OLYMPIAN SO I HAVE THATCOMPETITIVE JUICE IN ME.WHEN I SEE THEM ON THE FLOORFIGHTING AND GETTING THE HIGHSCORES, I WISH A LITTLE BIT IWAS DOWN THERE AS WELL. ONCE AN OLYMPIAN, ALWAYS ANOLYMPIAN.TALK ABOUT YOU ROLE AS AFITNESS AMBASSADOR AND WHY THISROLE IS SO IMPORTANT TO YOU.>> BEING ACTIVE IS ALWAYSIMPORTANT TO ME, IN MY ATHLETICCAREER AND AS A WIFE AND MOTHERTO FOUR BEAUTIFUL, ATHLETICDAUGHTERS.I AM HEADING A CAMPAIGN CALLEDEAR FUTURE ME.I AM ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO GO TOTHE WEBSITE, SUPER EASY TO DO.I AM ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO WRITEA LETTER TO YOURSELF TO LIVE AHEALTH FUTURE.YOU ARE GOING TO BE THANKFUL FORIT.IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS VERYIMPORTANT IN MY LIFE.I WANT THOSE DAUGHTERS TO GIVEME LOTS OF GRANDBABIES AND IWANT TO BE HEALTHY ACTIVE, ANDWELL FOR THAT STAGE OF MY LIFE.I WANT THAT FOR EVERYBODY ELSE. WHAT ADVICE YOU HAVE FORVIEWERS ON HOW TO LEAD AHEALTHIER LIFESTYLE TODAY THATWILL BENEFIT THEM IN THE FUTURE? FOR ME IT MEANS SPIRITUALHEALTH, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL,PHYSICAL.TAKE YOUR VITAMINS.I AM A BIG BELIEVER IN IT.TRYING TO INSTILL THAT AND MYDAUGHTERS.EXERCISE, EATING HEALTHY, ALL OFTHOSE THINGS MAKE THE PACKAGEFOR ME, MARY LOU, TO HAVE THATHEALTHY FUTURE.TAKING MY SUPPLEMENTS,GLUCOSAMINE AND CALCIUM ARE AMUST IN MY REGIMEN.THEY REALLY HELP ME TO STAYLOOSE AND ACTIVE.
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Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton is in intensive care with pneumonia
Updated: 5:41 AM EDT Oct 11, 2023
Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital.Video above: Retton discusses the U.S. Olympic gymnast team in 2016.Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared Retton’s condition in an Instagram post on Tuesday. Kelley said the 55-year-old Retton, who became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, is “fighting for her life” and not able to breathe on her own.Kelley started a fundraising campaign on Retton’s behalf for medical expenses. Kelley wrote that Retton does not currently have medical insurance.Retton was 16 years old when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Retton, who grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.Retton, a mother of four, currently lives in Texas. She retired from competitive gymnastics in 1986 and did numerous commercial endorsements. She also made several film and television appearances, including a stint on “Dancing with the Stars.”She and her husband, Shannon Kelley, divorced in 2018.
Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital.
Video above: Retton discusses the U.S. Olympic gymnast team in 2016.
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Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared Retton’s condition in an Instagram post on Tuesday. Kelley said the 55-year-old Retton, who became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, is “fighting for her life” and not able to breathe on her own.
Kelley started a fundraising campaign on Retton’s behalf for medical expenses. Kelley wrote that Retton does not currently have medical insurance.
Retton was 16 years old when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Retton, who grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.
Retton, a mother of four, currently lives in Texas. She retired from competitive gymnastics in 1986 and did numerous commercial endorsements. She also made several film and television appearances, including a stint on “Dancing with the Stars.”
She and her husband, Shannon Kelley, divorced in 2018.
