Famous Olympic athlete, Mary Lou Retton, was arrested and charged with DUI earlier in May 2025, according to publicly accessible court records.
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According to court records obtained from the West Virginia Magistrate Court system, Retton, 57, was arrested on Saturday, May 17. She was charged with one count of “driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs.” That very same day, Retton posted her $1,500 bond.
The Guardian reported that police responded to reports of an individual driving their Porsche erratically. When police officers conducted a traffic stop, records show that Retton was slurring her words. Allegedly, a wine container was found on her vehicle’s passenger seat. Moreover, records show that she also refused to take a breath test.
Olympic Gold Medalist
Mary Lou Retton rose to prominence after a successful and lauded career as a gymnast during the 1980s. Most notably, she managed to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the individual all-around in the 1984 Summer Games held in Los Angeles.
In total, Retton won five Olympic medals. Other than her all-around gold medal, she also won two silver medals in the team all-around and vault competitions. Retton also snatched two bronze medals in the uneven bars and floor exercise competition. All Olympic medals were won during the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
After she retired in 1986, Retton made several appearances in TV shows and movies. In 1997, she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She also became the first woman to be inducted into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame.
On October 10, 2023, Retton’s daughter, McKenna, revealed that Retton was struggling with pneumonia. Reportedly, Retton didn’t have medical insurance, so McKenna resorted to crowdfunding instead.
“My amazing mom, Mary Lou, has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life,” McKenna wrote in a Spotfund fundraiser. “She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now. Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she not insured.”
Retton managed to recover, but she was never the same, as she told PEOPLE in a July 2024 interview.
“It’s been really hard,” Retton said. “My lungs are so scarred. It will be a lifetime of recovery. My physicality was the only thing I had and it was taken away from me. It’s embarrassing.”