“I am so nervous. I did not sleep. This is the first time I’ve ever left the baby, so I was crying yesterday.”
Olympic gold medalst Mary Lou Retton was arrested in Fairmont, West Virginia on May 17.
The 57-year-old retired gymnast was charged with one count of “driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs,” according to the Magistrate Court of Marion County, West Virginia.
Retton, who was born in Fairmont and attended Fairmont Senior High School (despite not graduating), posted a $1,500 personal recognizance bond later that day, per People.
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A personal recognizance (PR) bond allows a defendant to be released from jail before trial without posting money, so long as they agree to return to court as required and abide by the conditions of their release.
Retton has yet to release a statement following the arrest.
Most fans will remember the iconic gymnast from the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles when she became the first American woman to win the individual all-around gold medal in gymnastics.
Retton went on to win five Olympic medals at the 1984 games, including two bronze and two silver.
She helped pave the way for Team USA's women's gymnastics, which has won the individual all-around gold medal at each of the past six Olympics, dating back to 2004 in Athens.
Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles (twice) and Sunisa Lee have followed in her footsteps, per NBC10.
Retton was ‘fighting for her life’ less than two years ago
Retton’s DUI arrest comes less than two years after she was “fighting for her life” in the ICU.
Her daughter, McKenna Kelley, whom she shares with ex-husband Shannon Kelley, revealed the news in an October 2023 Instagram Story.
"My amazing mom, Mary Lou, has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life," McKenna Kelley wrote, per NBC Washington. "She is not able to breathe on her own.”
Retton later told People that she spent an entire month in the hospital and was reportedly so sick that doctors were unsure if she would make it.
“It’s been really hard. My lungs are so scarred. It will be a lifetime of recovery. My physicality was the only thing I had and it was taken away from me. It’s embarrassing," she explained, per the outlet.
Retton’s gymnastics career came to an end in 1986 when she retired to pursue a college degree.
''My decision to retire was based on my feeling that I have achieved the goals as a gymnast that I set out for myself several years ago,'' she said in a 1986 interview with the New York Times.
''I'll always be a part of gymnastics, whether as a commentator or coaching. I've spent my whole life in the gym — 11 years of hard work,” she added. “Now I have the rest of my life to do what I want.''
Retton was inducted into the U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame in 1985 and the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.
She also competed on season 27 of “Dancing with the Stars,” where she and Sasha Farber were the fifth pair to be eliminated.
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In addition to her daughter McKenna, Retton shares three other daughters — Shayla, Skyla and Emma — with her ex-husband, Shannon Kelley.
