Athletes

Mary Lou Retton was the first American woman to win a gold medal in gymnastics at the 1984 Los Angeles Games in the all-around competition. She also won silver medals for team and vault, and bronze medals for uneven bars and floor exercise. That same year, Retton was named Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year, 1984 Associated Press Amateur Athlete of the Year, and became the youngest inductee into the United States Olympic Committee Hall of Fame.

Retton also became the only woman to win three American Cups (1983-85), the only American to win Japan's prestigious Chunichi Cup (1983), two U.S. Gymnastics Federation American Classics (1983-84), and the all-around title at both the 1984 National Championships and Olympic trials before retiring from competitive gymnastics in 1986.

In 1993, Retton was named one of USA's most beloved athletes in a survey conducted by Sports Marketing Group, a Dallas consulting firm. In 1994, the U.S. Olympic Committee established the annual Mary Lou Retton Award for athletic excellence. In 1995, she was the recipient of the Flo Hyman Memorial Award in recognition of her spirit, dignity, and commitment to excellence.

Currently, she travels the country as a motivational speaker and is the new host of Intersport's syndicated show American Sportswomen. She was warded the Women's Sports Foundation Amateur Sportswomen of the Year in 1984 and she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in Contemporary category, 1993. (7/99)