Retton was in the news last year when her daughter revealed on social media that the 1984 Olympic all-around champion was "fighting for her life" with "a very rare form of pneumonia" and was not insured. That led to a flood of donations totaling over $450,000 – but also to questions about basic details of Retton's illness, whether or not she had health insurance and exactly how the money collected was being spent. Retton did agree to an interview with NBC’s "Today Show" in January 2024, appearing with an oxygen tube in her nose and describing a harrowing, month-long hospital stay, including a moment when "they were about to put me on life support," she said.
Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton is charged with driving under the influence in Marion County, West Virginia, about 100 miles south of Pittsburgh. According to court records, the incident happened on May 17. Retton, 57, is a native of Fairmont, West Virginia, which is located in Marion County. Court records say a judge gave Retton a $1,500 personal recognizance bond.
The gymnast made headlines in 2023 when her daughters announced Retton had been battling a rare form of pneumonia that had the Olympic great fighting for her life in a hospital ICU. Retton’s family asked for donations through a crowdfunding site, which raised $200,000 in a day. She was eventually released from the hospital, and in an interview on “Today” in January 2024, she opened up about the health scare. “I am so grateful to be here. I am blessed to be here, because there was a time when they were about to put me on life support,” she said in the interview. Retton became a household name in the 1980s after winning gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She took home five medals during the Olympics in 1984, and that included the gold in the all-around competition — a first for any American woman. Retton also captured two silver medals and two bronze medals that year, while also being named the Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 1984 for her performance at the Olympics. She was named to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997 and made appearances in movies and TV shows, including a 1993 episode of “Baywatch” and the 1994 film “Naked Gun 33 ¹/₃: The Final Insult.”
