Dazzling Decade: Mary Lou Retton’s Radiant Stardom in Sports

This was the last chance for amateurs to compete in the Olympics. Most of the countries that had already cheated on the ideal stayed away. The Soviet bloc’s decision to skip the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles let the rest of the world come together one last time under the original idea behind the games, without the burden of the state-sponsored robots of Moscow, East Berlin, and Prague.

That time would come again in 1988. By 1992, every country except the U.S., which jumped in with both feet, would also accept pros. It was still possible for an athlete to make a name for themselves in 1984, though. It only took two weeks. And during those 16 days in Los Angeles, Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan, Greg Louganis, and Joan Benoit all became famous in the United States.

Everyone was bigger and smarter than Mary Lou Retton, who was 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 100 pounds.

Some of the best players we’ve ever seen were at the top of their games all through 1984. Bruce Gretzky won the Stanley Cup for the first time. When Jordan won the gold medal, he became an instant star in the NBA, which had been getting record-high numbers in June thanks to the Larry Bird/Magic Johnson Finals. Doc Gooden fell from the sky and hit everything. In January, Joe Montana and Dan Marino lead teams to the Super Bowl. Two majors were won by John McEnroe. It was 78-2 for Martina Navratilova. They are Ben Crenshaw, Fuzzy Zoeller, Seve Ballesteros, and Lee Trevino. All four of them are in the Golf Hall of Fame.

When the medals are given out, Mary Lou Retton (centre) and her friends wave to the crowd.

Mary Lou Retton was the brightest star of her star-studded athletic age.

Mary Lou Retton took part in the 1984 Summer Olympics’ balance beam event.Disney General Pop Culture Con

All of them were smaller than Mary Lou.

She came to LA five weeks after having surgery on her knee. She was America’s best hope to win gold in the all-around gymnastics competition held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, but the one holdout from the Communist ban was Romania, long the sport’s leader. With one turn left, Retton was 0.05 behind Ecaterina Szabo of Romania. Retton saw her personal teacher, Bela Karolyi, on her way to the vault.

“You need a 10,” he said coldly.

They were Mary Lou Retton and her daughter McKenna Kelley in 2019.Thanks to NBCU Photo Bank and NBCUniversal

She gave it a 10. She was so happy with her jump that she started to smile before she even hit the landing. She had the gold. She owned the Games. She would be on Wheaties boxes for many years. She would be SI’s Sportswoman of the Year. L. Jon Wertheim wrote in his great book “Glory Days,” “In many ways, this was the Women’s Olympics, an event that would represent a turning point for women’s sports.”

Retton is very sick right now and is fighting for her life. She has a rare form of asthma and can’t breathe on her own. Her family is asking for money because she doesn’t have health insurance either. If you can, please help this athlete. If not, please think good things about her and send her good vibes.

They were with athlete Mary Lou Retton before Game 2 of the 1984 World Series. Kirk Gibson of the Tigers.

Because there was a time when getting famous in sports meant actually doing well, not just getting a lot of fans on social media. Mary Lou Retton was more than just a gold winner; she was the biggest star in a year full of stars. She fought back then. She is still a fighter.

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