Mary Lou Retton refuses to divulge information about public donations
Five-time Olympic medal winner Mary Lou Retton refused to divulge information regarding public donations and her recent health issues.
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Former Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton was arrested earlier this month in West Virginia for DUI.
Court records posted online show Retton, 57, was stopped in Marion County, West Virginia, on May 17 and charged with one count of “driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs.”
She was later released after posting $1,500 bond.
Retton was in the news last year when her daughter revealed on social media that the 1984 Olympic all-around champion was “fighting for her life” with “a very rare form of pneumonia” and was not insured.
That led to a flood of donations totaling over $450,000 – but also to questions about basic details of Retton’s illness, whether or not she had health insurance and exactly how the money collected was being spent.
Retton did agree to an interview with NBC’s “Today Show” in January 2024, appearing with an oxygen tube in her nose and describing a harrowing, month-long hospital stay, including a moment when “they were about to put me on life support,” she said.
Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, told USA TODAY Sports at that time Retton could not get affordable health care because of pre-existing conditions, which she said include “over 30 orthopedic surgeries, including four hip replacements.”
Retton later told NBC in the interview that she was able to get medical insurance.
Retton’s family said that any funds remaining after her medical expenses were paid would be donated to a charity of her choice. But no further information was ever revealed.
