Olympic Gymnast Mary Lou Retton Arrested on DUI Charge

Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence charge on May 17, according to new reports.

Police arrested Retton in Fairmont, West Virginia, and took her into custody for allegedly “driving under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs,” according to court records cited by CBS Sports. The former gymnast was later released on a $1,500 personal recognizance bond.

The arrest is another setback for Retton, who divorced ex-husband Shannon Kelly in 2018 and battled a severe case of pneumonia in 2023. During that illness, supporters donated more than $459,000 through a crowdfunding campaign. “I am blessed to be here because there [was] a time when they were about to put me on life support,” Retton told TODAY a few months later.

The West Virginia native achieved international fame at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles after winning five medals, including a gold in the all-around competition. It was the first time an American athlete won an individual Olympic gymnastics medal. The win made Retton a celebrity, as well as a popular commercial pitchwoman.

In 1997, Retton was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, and in 2020, she became the first woman inducted into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame in 2020, according to The Guardian.

Onscreen, Retton appeared as herself on the television shows Guiding Light, Knots Landing, Baywatch, Dream On, and Buddy Faro, and in the movies Scrooged and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. She also hosted the PBS children’s TV series Mary Lou’s Flip Flop Shop in 2001, and she competed in Dancing With the Stars’ 27th season in 2018.