Mary Lou Retton was recently hospitalized with a serious medical condition, and the gymnastics legend suffered a setback this week.
McKenna Kelley, Retton’s daughter, said on social media last week that her mother had been admitted to the intensive care unit because of a “very rare form of pneumonia.” In an Instagram video on Wednesday, Kelley provided an update on Mary Lou’s condition. Kelley said her mother “had a pretty scary setback” on Tuesday.
“Basically, at the beginning of this week we were going on the up and up and were so excited and had seen so much progress. Then, yesterday, we had a pretty scary setback,” Kelley said. “She is still in ICU and we’re just working through some things as far as her setback goes. … She had a better day today (Wednesday), which is great, just really, really exhausting. She is really exhausted.”
Kelley said the setback was Tuesday and that Retton had been doing better on Wednesday, which is a positive sign. Kelley had provided a much more positive update last weekend.
Retton is famous for her success in gymnastics. The 55-year-old won five medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She won gold in the all-around, silver medals in the team and vault competitions, and bronze medals in the uneven bars and floor exercise. Remarkably, Retton became the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the women’s all-around competition at the Olympics.
A native of Fairmont, West Virginia, Retton is an inductee of the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame and Houston Sports Hall of Fame.
