Mary Lou Retton
- Actress
- Producer
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is a retired American gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performance made her one of the most popular athletes in the United States.
Retton was the first ever American woman to win the all-around gold medal at the Olympics and was the only one to do so for twenty years. She is credited with being a pioneering figure in American women's gymnastics, including by the four American women who have since equaled her feat consecutively: Carly Patterson (Athens in 2004), Nastia Liukin (2008 in Beijing), Gabby Douglas (2012 in London) and Simone Biles (2016 in Rio de Janeiro). Twice during that span, Americans also took silver as part of a one-two finish: Shawn Johnson in 2008 and Aly Raisman in 2016. Furthermore, prior to Retton's Olympic triumph, no American woman had won all-around gold at the World Championships; since then, seven Americans have done so a combined eleven times - in chronological order, Kim Zmeskal, Shannon Miller (twice), Chellsie Memmel, Johnson, Bridget Sloan, Jordyn Wieber and Simone Biles (three times).
Retton was the first ever American woman to win the all-around gold medal at the Olympics and was the only one to do so for twenty years. She is credited with being a pioneering figure in American women's gymnastics, including by the four American women who have since equaled her feat consecutively: Carly Patterson (Athens in 2004), Nastia Liukin (2008 in Beijing), Gabby Douglas (2012 in London) and Simone Biles (2016 in Rio de Janeiro). Twice during that span, Americans also took silver as part of a one-two finish: Shawn Johnson in 2008 and Aly Raisman in 2016. Furthermore, prior to Retton's Olympic triumph, no American woman had won all-around gold at the World Championships; since then, seven Americans have done so a combined eleven times - in chronological order, Kim Zmeskal, Shannon Miller (twice), Chellsie Memmel, Johnson, Bridget Sloan, Jordyn Wieber and Simone Biles (three times).