Earlier this week, the country was shocked to learn that America’s 1984 sweetheart, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, was in a Texas hospital fighting for her life against a rare form of pneumonia.
But fans were even more surprised to learn the 55-year-old legend does not have health insurance — and her family was asking for financial help to the tune of $50,000 to cover her bills.
“She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now. Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she is not insured,” Retton’s daughter McKenna Kelley wrote on the SpotFund donation site.
The disclosure kicked off a firestorm on X (formerly Twitter), with some blaming Retton — who campaigned for Ronald Reagan and led the Pledge of Allegiance at the 2004 Republican National Convention — for supporting a political party that fought the Affordable Care Act. Others resented a successful athlete asking for donations from everyday Americans.
Despite the blowback, the fund has raised over $400,000 in a sign of America’s enduring love for the icon.
Two of the most generous donors were Houston philanthropists Linda and Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, who own the Gallery Furniture chain. The couple have known Retton for decades through famed and controversial gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. They didn’t hesitate to chip in $50,000.
“People say, ‘She didn’t have health insurance, she didn’t have this or she didn’t have that.’ It’s kind of simple. Let any of us who never made a mistake in life cast the first stone. We’re here to help,” Jim told The Post, adding that Retton is “warm and bubbly.”
While he hasn’t spoken to her recently, he has been in touch with her immediate family, which includes daughters Shayla, 28; McKenna, 26; Skyla, 23; and Emma, 21.
“They are very private about the whole thing and I certainly respect that,” Jim added.
Sasha Farber, who was Retton’s dance partner when she competed in “Dancing with the Stars” in 2018, gave a grim update.
“I’ve been talking to her today and she’s fighting,” Farber told “Entertainment Tonight.” “She kind of wants to give up, but I’m sending her videos of her dancing and I’m telling her, ‘There’s only one Mary Lou Retton. You’ve got this!’”
Retton, a longtime Houston resident who lists her recent career endeavors as “motivational speaker” and a partnership with Foxy’s Leotards on her Instagram page, isn’t being abandoned by her sport.
A representative for the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) told The Post that the group is working through the United States Olympians & Paralympians Relief Fund to help alleviate medical costs for Retton.
“Upon learning of Mary Lou’s condition, we immediately took action to expedite the application process for her family to receive assistance. We are currently working through the necessary details in real-time and will be reaching out to her family shortly,” the rep said. “Please know that our hearts are with Mary Lou.”
There’s also been an outpouring of support from fellow gymnasts including her former teammate Michelle Dusserre Farrell, who told The Post, the “’84 gymnastics sisters are here for [Retton].”
Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci, who inspired Retton to climb to the top of the gymnastics world, told The Post that she was “praying for her.”
“We know as much as everyone else … as the family has asked for privacy. Mary Lou is a very dear friend [and a] wonderful person … big smile and very funny,” Comaneci wrote in an email to The Post. “We love her dearly … She is a pioneer that put American gymnastics on the map.”
Born in Fairmount, West Virginia, Retton came from athletic stock. Her late father, Ronnie, who only stood 5-foot-7, was the sixth man on the West Virginia University basketball team that made it to the NCAA national title game in 1959.
Retton’s parents put their spunky daughter in gymnastics early and she became hooked as she watched Comaneci win gold at the 1976 games in Montreal.
In high school, the 4-foot-9 marvel moved to Houston to train with Karolyi, who also coached her idol. But she remained tethered to her hometown, which renamed the street she grew up on “Mary Lou Retton Drive.”
“I remember when we had a homecoming at East West Stadium in Fairmont when she came back to West Virginia after winning the gold,” Fairmount’s interim city manager Janet Keller told The Post. “The stadium was full of her friends and supporters. We were all so proud of her. Our hearts at the City of Fairmont go out to her and her family during this trying time.”
Just before the 1984 Olympics, Retton’s mother Lois opened up to Miami Herald columnist Christine Brennan.
“I worry about her,” Lois told Brennan. “I worry when she travels, about the security when she performs. She’s 16. She should be going to proms and ball games. I feel like I’ve lost her to the world. Will she ever come back?”
But there was no going back to a quaint life after the LA games launched Retton into another stratosphere. In her now iconic stars-and-stripes leotard, the 16-year-old made history as the first American woman to clinch gold in gymnastics Olympic all-around, winning five medals in total.
Overnight, the petite powerhouse with the giant smile and feathered hair became synonymous with American athletic greatness — and a valuable marketer for big brands. She was the first woman to grace a Wheaties box and went on to star in commercials for Energizer and Purex.
And she landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline “Only you, Mary Lou!” The magazine also named her “Sportswoman of the Year.”
Retton retired in 1986 but continued to be a consequential pop culture figure in commercials and movies, with cameos in “Scrooged” and “Naked Gun 33 1/3.”
In 1990, she married Shannon Kelley, a former quarterback from the University of Texas, and they had four daughters — three of whom competed in gymnastics at the collegiate level: McKenna at LSU, Emma at Arkansas and Shayla at Baylor.
“I teach my girls, ‘Live your life with no regrets,’” Retton said at a Baylor banquet. “You don’t want to wake up when you’re my age, in your forties, and look back and hit yourself because you gave up.”
In 2018, Retton competed on “Dancing with the Stars” but kept her recent divorce from Kelley a secret.
“My close-knit people obviously knew, but not a lot of people knew,” she told People. “I don’t think the ex told anybody, but that’s just coming from me — that could be wrong. A lot of people were surprised.”
Though her financial situation is still unclear, Retton has remained a fixture in the gymnastics world with her leotard partnership and the Mothers & Daughters Forever Our Legacy Invitational women’s tour that she co-hosts with her daughter McKenna.
In June she plugged an appearance at the Autograph Show of Texas.
Her instagram is packed with proud moments featuring her athletic daughters. In 2021, she posted a picture with pint-sized Houston Astros star Jose Altuve.
On Sunday, the Astros will take on the Texas Rangers in the MLB playoffs, Jim McIngvale expects Houston’s hero to be on fans’ minds.
“Before every game, I spend about three hours walking the concourse and talking to people,” he said. I’m sure a lot of them will be asking for Mary Lou and certainly praying for her.”
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