Tiny, Glowing Retton Returns to Gymnastics

Mary Lou Retton smiled and the room seemed to light up. Five years after she captured the hearts of the country in the Los Angeles Olympics, Retton has lost little of the luster that for two weeks in 1984 made her America’s sweetheart.

All grown up now, she is a wisp of a woman, well under 5 feet tall, less than 100 pounds, about as big as a minute. But that smile, oh that smile.

Retton has plenty to grin about these days. Newly engaged to former Texas quarterback Shannon Kelley, she has returned to gymnastics on an eight-city tour with Olga Korbut that began Friday in Minneapolis.

This is no small bit of business because Retton remembers watching Korbut’s triple gold medal show in the 1972 Olympics, being mesmerized by the doll-sized Soviet gymnast and thinking to herself, “Gee, that looks like fun.”

“She was my first idol,” Retton said. “She opened gymnastics to me. Russians were supposed to be stone-faced, but not Olga. She showed emotion. She laughed when she won and she cried when she fell. I liked that. That’s like me. I show emotion.”

Now they will get to show it together, not in a medal competition but in a relaxed exhibition setting. “I’m anxious to meet her, talk with her, travel with her and perform with her,” Retton said. “It’s a tour of good will to break down the political barriers to show the love and togetherness that people don’t know is there. There will be music in all the events. It will be a showy atmosphere. I’m really looking forward to it.”

To prepare, Retton returned to rigorous gymnastic workouts. “I had gone three years without working out,” she said., “When I went back, the next day I hurt in places I didn’t know I had. I couldn’t get out of bed.”

That’s what happens when you’re an old gymnast, all of 21. Retton rates as a senior citizen in this sport that caters to kids.

“It’s a short career,” she said. “You start at 6 or 7, you peak in your early teens. It doesn’t bother me. That’s the nature of the sport.”