Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital.

Retton's daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared Retton's condition in an Instagram post on Tuesday. Kelley said the 55-year-old Retton, who became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, is “fighting for her life” and not able to breathe on her own.

Kelley started a fundraising campaign on Retton's behalf for medical expenses. Kelley wrote that Retton does not currently have medical insurance.

Retton was 16 years old when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Retton, who grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.

Retton, a mother of four, currently lives in Texas. She retired from competitive gymnastics in 1986 and did numerous commercial endorsements. She also made several film and television appearances, including a stint on “Dancing with the Stars.”

She and her husband, Shannon Kelley, divorced in 2018.

Share:
More In Sports
MLB’s Cleveland Team Retires Native American Nickname, Now Called 'Guardians'
Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team finally has a new moniker, the Guardians. Formerly known as the Indians, the organization made a change to the team name after years of public scrutiny and claims of appropriation of Native American culture. Cheddar’s Hena Doba and Baker Machado provide some additional details into the name change.
N2K: 7 States Hold Midterm Primaries, Manchin Offers Potential Gun Control Path, 5 Tampa Bay Rays Players Refuse Pride Patch
Here are your Need2Know stories for Tuesday June 7, 2022: Today, voters head to the polls for primary elections in California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota. Senator Joe Manchin said he would support raising age requirements for gun purchases to 21. Manchin told CNN he also "wouldn't have a problem looking at" a ban on AR-15 assault rifles. Meanwhile, five players on the Tampa Bay Rays roster opted not to wear a patch added to its uniforms intended to celebrate pride month.
Load More