Mary Lou Retton, Olympic Gymnastics Legend, Diagnosed With Rare Pneumonia

Former gymnast and five-time Olympic medalist Mary Lou Retton has been diagnosed with a "very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life," according to a social media post from her daughter, McKenna Kelley.

Retton, 55, won the individual all-around gold medal at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles while also winning silver medals in the team competition and vault and bronze medals in the uneven bars and floor exercise.

She was the first woman from the United States to ever win an individual all-around gold medal at the Olympics, though the Soviet Union—a powerhouse in the sport—boycotted the 1984 Games amid the Cold War and after the United States' boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

The Soviet Union was one of 14 communist nations to boycott the 1984 Games.

It would be 20 years before another United States woman, Carly Patterson in 2004, would win a gold medal in the individual all-around competition. Patterson's gold was the first in a string of five straight for the United States, which included triumphs from Nastia Liukin (2008), Gabrielle Douglas (2012), Simone Biles (2016) and Sunisa Lee (2020).

But Retton's was the first, a historic and monumental achievement that earned her Sportsperson of the Year accolades from Sports Illustrated in 1984. She would go on to be inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997 and had a career in entertainment following her sporting days that included an episode of Baywatch in 1993 and an appearance in the 1994 comedy film Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult.