Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton was arrested for DUI earlier this month, according to records on the West Virginia Judiciary website.
The 57-year-old was charged with “driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs” on 17 May after police responded to reports of someone driving a Porsche erratically. According to the records, Retton was slurring her words when police stopped her, and officers saw a container of wine on the passenger seat of her car. She refused to take a breath test, and was released after posting a $1,500 bond.
Retton became a household name in the US after she won five medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, including a gold in the all-around competition – the first individual Olympic gymnastics medal ever won by an American – scoring a perfect 10 on the vault in the final rotation. The West Virginia native’s performance landed her on the front of Wheaties boxes and keyed the sport’s explosion in popularity in the United States.
After her gymnastics career, Retton remained active in the media, appearing in a number of films and TV shows. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997 and was the first woman to be selected into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
Retton also served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under US president George W Bush.
In 2023, she fell seriously ill with pneumonia and was in ICU for a number of weeks. At the time her daughter Kelley said her mother was “fighting for her life” and started a fundraiser to cover medical costs for Retton, who did not have medical insurance. Donations to the fundraiser ended up totaling nearly $500,000. Retton recovered but said she had “faced death in the eyes” during her illness.
