1984 Summer Olympics: Mary Lou Retton Was The First American Woman To Win The All-Around Gold Medal In Olympic Gymnastics

By | August 7, 2021

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Source: (Pinterest).

In 1980, the United States and 64 other countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics. In reaction, the Soviet Union and some of its allies boycotted the 1984 games in Los Angeles. Romania was the notable exception to this boycott. Because the Soviets would have been favored to win gold in the all-around competition for women’s gymnastics, their absence opened the door to the American team. That year, Mary Lou Retton would become the first American woman to win the all-around gold.

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Nadia Comaneci, who inspired Retton. Source: (Tumblr).

She Started Her Career At Eight

Retton, who was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, was inspired to begin gymnastics when she was eight, after watching Nadia Comăneci on television at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. She began her training shortly after that. Retton then decided to move to Houston to train under Béla and Márta Károlyi (they had coached Comăneci prior to their defection to America). In 1983, Retton won the American Cup and placed second to Dianne Durham at U.S. Nationals. She also won Japan’s Chunichi Cup that year. Because she had a wrist injury, she did not compete in the World Gymnastics Championships in 1983. In 1984, she won the American classic, the American Cup, the U.S. Nationals, and secured her place in the Olympics during the U.S. Olympic Trials.