U.S. gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton arrested on DUI charge in West Virginia
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U.S. gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton faces a DUI charge after being arrested earlier this month in Marion County, W.Va.
According to Magistrate Court of Marion County records, Retton was arrested May 17 and charged with a misdemeanor count of driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs. She was released after posting a personal recognizance bond of $1,500, the court records show.
Police from Retton’s hometown of Fairmont stopped the five-time Olympic medalist while responding to a report about a Porsche being driven erratically, according to the Associated Press.
The criminal complaint states that Retton, 57, smelled of alcohol, was slurring her words and failed a field sobriety test, the AP reports, while officers also said they observed a container of wine in the passenger seat. Retton is reported to have refused a roadside breath test and a blood test.
Retton’s attorney declined to comment on the matter when reached by The Times.
Born in Fairmont, W.Va., Retton rose to household-name status during the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, when she became the first U.S. gymnast to win Olympic gold in the all-around competition, edging Romania’s Simona Pauca by five-tenths of a point.
Until about a year before the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics few people other than devoted gymnastics fans knew who Mary Lou Retton was.
Retton sealed the gold medal by earning perfect scores on her final two exercises, floor and vault, much to the delight of the crowd at Pauley Pavilion and millions of TV viewers around the country. During those Games, she also won silver for team all-around and vault, and bronze in floor and uneven bars.
On Oct. 10, 2023, Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, revealed that her mother had “a very rare form of pneumonia” and was “fighting for her life” in intensive care without being covered by medical insurance.
“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley wrote in the description of a fundraiser that has raised nearly $500,000 to help cover Retton’s medical costs.
U.S. gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton, on oxygen, speaks for the first time since spending several weeks in intensive care with a rare form of pneumonia in the fall.
On Oct. 23, 2023, Kelley wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post that Retton was “HOME & in recovery mode.”
Retton said she was “not great yet” when she spoke about her ordeal and ongoing recovery with NBC News’ Hoda Kotb in January 2024.
“I don’t know how long I’ll indefinitely need the oxygen,” Retton said while gesturing toward her nasal tube, “but you have no idea how blessed and how grateful I was for this holiday season.”
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Retton also addressed why she didn’t have health insurance at the time of her medical emergency.
“When COVID hit after my divorce, and all my preexisting — I mean, I’ve had over 30 operations, orthopedic stuff — I couldn’t afford it,” she said.
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