Mary Lou Retton - The Innocent

GYMNASTICS - 1984 OLYMPICS - TEAM USA

ARCHETYPE: THE INNOCENT

Day 120/135

Athletic Accomplishments

Mary Lou Retton was the breakout star of the 1984 Olympic Games, held in Los Angeles.

At age 8, she started doing gymnastics, after being inspired by watching gymnastic in the 1976 Olympics, where Nadia Comăneci defeated Olga Korbut. For today’s gymnasts, starting at 8 seems late, but for Retton, it was right on time.

She and her family moved to Houston to train under Béla and Márta Károlyi, and Retton immediately excelled. In 1983, she won the American Cup and placed second at U.S. Nationals. In 1984, at age 16, she won the American Cup and U.S. Nationals, building her confidence and setting her up for her win at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

However, Retton suffered a freak knee injury that required surgery, five weeks prior to the Olympic Games, casting doubt on whether she could compete or whether her knee would hold up during the rigorous competition.

Good news, sports fans. Retton was better and stronger than ever. Retton and Team USA won silver in the team competition. Retton also won a silver in the horse vault and bronze in floor and uneven bars. That’s four medals so far. Not bad for a first-time Olympian.

But Retton was not done with her astounding performance. She also took home gold in the all-around competition—scoring perfect 10s on both floor exercise and vault, to win by 0.05 points. She became the first American woman to win gold in the all-around.

During her career, she was also the only woman to win three American Cups (1983, 1984, 1985) and the only American to win Japan’s Chunichi Cup. In 1997, Mary Lou was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

For 20 years, Retton was the only American woman to win all-around Olympic gold. But she inspired generations of athletes, who have since come through and achieved the same feat: Carly Patterson (2004), Nastia Liukin (2008), Gabby Douglas (2012), and Simone Biles (2016). You gotta start somewhere.

Character Archetype: The Innocent

Breathe wrong and you’ll lose five hundredths of a point. When 16 year-old Mary Lou Retton won the all-around gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, she didn’t have much wiggle room. But with her scores in floor exercise and vault, it turns out, she didn’t need a generous margin of error. She put up two perfect 10s to become the first American woman to win an all-around Olympic gold medal.

Retton won 5 Olympic gold medals with and for Team USA, the most won by any athlete in the 1984 Summer Games. What does all that winning get you? A big bowl of the Breakfast of Champions. That’s right… the bubbly, adorable Retton was the first woman ever to appear on the iconic Wheaties box. Her signature feathered hair, enormous megawatt smile, and stack of medals made her America’s sweetheart and one of the most beloved athletes of the early 80s.

Why does it matter that we get to see women athletes competing?

Because Retton started in gymnastics after seeing Nadia Comăneci. After Retton, four American women have won the all-around gold medal. And today, Retton’s four daughters are all competing in gymnastics. Sometimes, you just need to see it to know you can be it.