Although Kelley is a senior at LSU, she missed the entirety of her junior season due to injury. On Saturday, April 20, LSU finished second at the NCAA Womens Gymnastics Championships. AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. All four of my children were born here, and my husband is from here. Theres that fine line between a daughter and a friend, so theres a lot that I couldnt share with them. I'm gonna sit down like most of the other parents and just clap when you go and be quiet and civilized.' Their daughters' names are Shayla, McKenna, Skyla, & Emma Kelley. McKenna, the second of Retton's four daughters with former Texas quarterback Shannon Kelley, started mommy-and-me gymnastics classes at age 2 and rarely left the gym after that. She shared on the show that she had gotten divorced from husband Shannon Kelley, whom she married in 1990. As Kelley took her final bow after her stellar performance, the crowd went wild. She did rack up some impressive scores on the mat in high school, however. Retton said she and Kelley simply grew apart. Over the years, the Olympic champion and her enthusiastic cheers from the stands have been a constant presence at her daughter's competitions. But 30 years ago, the equipment we worked on wasn't so forgiving. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. 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One fan, @emmadilemma83 wrote alongside a heart emoji: She definitely has your smile!!!! Now, Retton is back home in Texas with her family and taking time to rest after dealing with some DWTS-related injuries. "I just want them to know that I'm proud of them no matter what, whether they're gymnasts or not, just because they're human.". See Her Now. [28][29][30] In 2019, Retton became a spokesperson for Australian Dream, a pain relief cream. Olympic Gymnast Mary Lou Retton Cheers on Daughter at NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships, Olympian Katie Ledecky Says 'Go for the Gold' After She's Named Best Female Athlete at 2022 ESPY Awards, Breakfast of Champions! See Her Now. He joined the Houston Chronicle in 1990 after stints at the Dallas bureau of United Press International (1984-90), the Waco Tribune-Herald (1978-84) and the Tyler Morning Telegraph (1975-78). And for more entertainment and celebrity news sent right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. The proud mom took to Instagram to commemorate her daughters triumphant performance. Retton brings name recognition. She had sat down to sign autographs when she felt her knee lock, forcing her to undergo an operation five weeks prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics, which were going to be held in Los Angelesthe first time the Summer Olympics had been held in the United States in 52 years. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton and her daughter, McKenna Kelley, brought their gymnastics invitational to Rhode Island on Friday. And I feel like people have a hard time believing that. [24], In January 2020, Retton was the first woman inducted into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame. [23], In 1997, Retton was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. . Mary Lou Retton may have been the first American woman to win all-around gold at the Olympics, but her daughter McKenna Kelley says that growing up, she didnt quite understand all that her mother had accomplished. [19][20], Retton was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. Growing up, I never had that pressure, Kelley told espnW as a freshman competitor. RELATED:Kerri Strug's Heroic Vault Was 25 Years Ago. The couple has four daughters together Shayla, 23, McKenna, 21, Skyla, 18, and Emma, 16 and she explained that she was very thankful for her kids, as they love her unconditionally. Show More Posts from marylouretton. That sucked all the calcium out of me," she said, laughing. '", Despite her daughters' success in their athletic pursuits, Retton has said that the main thing she's focused on is their happiness. National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association. April 23, 2019 by Haley Velasco With a famous mom like Olympic. [] However, Skyla did do gymnastics as a child, starting at the age of three. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. scientific studies and medical journals. The retired Olympic gold-medal-winning gymnast revealed her split from her husband of 27 years publicly for the first time on Monday nights episode of Dancing with the Stars before being eliminated. Our LSU parents den!!! HOUCHRON CAPTION (08/19/2004): Retton and her husband live in Houston, far removed from the time when she captured the heart of a nation and graced the cover of the Wheaties box. "No one had ever seen a gymnast like me. Agreeing with her daughters remarks, Retton, 51, said that although she enrolled all of her four daughters in gymnastics classes, she didnt put pressure on them., I put my four daughters into a sport that I love. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. Retton could be spotted in the stands blowing kisses and holding up 10 fingers for a perfect 10. Retton recovered and, trailing Szabo entering her final event in the all-around at Los Angeles, received a perfect score of 10.0 on the "vault without fault" to win the gold medal by 0.05 points. Mary Lou Retton was born on January 24, 1968, in the United States in Fairmont, West Virginia. That's where I am at this stage of life.". To see Mary Lou Retton's four daughters, read about their accomplishments in the gym, and hear more about her family, read on. When McKenna Kelley nailed her floor routine at the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships, no one was prouder than her mom, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton. Who can blame a mom, when there's so much to cheer about? For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. [3] } There were women saying theyve been in the same predicament as myself [with a] long marriage and thanking me for giving them the hope and courage to continue, she says. ( Smiley N. Pool / Chronicle ). [emailprotected]. "I just want them to know that I'm proud of them no matter what, whether they're gymnasts or not, just because they're human.". That made it special for people. McKenna, who's now 24, was co-champion of the Nastia Liukin Cup, an annual U.S. competition hosted by the former Olympian, in 2014. But my mom never, ever put pressure on us. For Kelley, a senior at LSU, the night was a triumphant personal comeback. "I tell her every season, 'McKenna, I'm really gonna do it this season. ", Houston, she said, "has become home to me. Mary's father was also a former collegiate basketball player. pic.twitter.com/FayDig23lR, LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 21, 2019. Kelley didn't pursue elite gymnastics until she was 17 the same age Retton was when she retired from the sport, just one year after her history-making victory at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. But after all is said and done, she is just a kid from a small West Virginia town who has become one of the most familiar faces and most beloved citizens in the fourth-largest city in America. Skyla bears a striking resemblance to Retton, and that comes through as the young beauty stood near the renowned sports star. She posts videos about her daily life, which often feature her siblings and husband, Wyatt Schrepfer, who also studied at Baylor University. RELATED: See Michael Jordan's Three Oldest Kids All Grown Up. Great, Click the Allow Button Above We adhere to structured guidelines for sourcing information and linking to other resources, including I just felt this is my chance to really be clear and to be transparent to people. 2002). To see Mary Lou Retton's four daughters, read about their accomplishments in the gym, and hear more about her family, read on. McKenna Kelley, daughter of Mary Lou Retton, blazes her own trail in gymnastics 2492 days ago Laurie Bern Special to espnW.com When your mom is Olympic gymnastics superstar Mary Lou Retton and you take up her sport, there are bound to be certain expectations. McKenna then took her gymnastics career to the collegiate level at Louisiana State University. (She shared the title with Mackenzie Brannan.) Olympic Gymnast Mary Lou Retton Cheers on Daughter at NCAA Womens Gymnastics Championships. Check out the feature on the Forever Our Legacy Invitational featuring former Olympic star Mary Lou . But she and her siblings were never forced to continue doing it if they didn't want to, which McKenna noted to Tiger Rag, an LSU magazine. She graduated from Baylor University in 2017 with a major in Health Science. It was a special weekend for the RI Sports Commission, GoProvidence, and Convention Center! She went to The University of Texas, where she met her husband, Shannon Kelly, who played quarterback for the Longhorns. In her senior year, she scored a 9.8875 in the vault competition at the NCAA Team Finals. Here is to seeing more of Skyla as she takes adulthood and the world by storm! Retton, 51, was in the audience watching as her daughter's performance earned a sky-high score of 9.95, mere hundredths from the coveted perfect 10. And we trained hard - 70 vaults a day onto hard surfaces. Thats all she is, her daughter replied. "Very seldom, they'll come home and be having a problem on a skill or something and say, 'Mom, I'm having trouble, will you comment or what do you think. Retton, the first American woman to win the individual all-around gold medal in gymnastics, flashed "perfect 10" fingers and blew kisses to Kelley, whose seamless routine helped her team finish second at the competition. I'm gonna sit down like most of the other parents and just clap when you go and be quiet and civilized.' Retton won two international events in 1983 and entered the Olympic year, with the Soviets boycotting the Games in Los Angeles, picked to win the all-around silver medal behind Ecaterina Szabo of Romania. A post shared by Mary Lou Retton (@marylouretton), Even with four kids who've done gymnastics, Retton has never been tempted to coach them herself. She is a frequent analyst for televised gymnastics and attended The University of Texas at Austin after the Olympics.[31]. Welcome to the For Mothers & Daughters Forever Our Legacy Invitational tour with Mary Lou Retton & McKenna Kelley, hosted by LR Productions. I dont think the ex told anybody, but thats just coming from me that could be wrong. Thats the same age Retton was when she retired from the sport in 1985 a year after she became the first American woman to win the individual all-around gold medal in gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Traveling more than 13,500 miles across the United States in 65 days carried by about 11,500 torchbearers, the torchis on its way to Salt Lake City for the XIX Olympic Winter Games, which begin February 8. } else { Among them, a bona fide gymnastics icon: Kelley's mom, Mary Lou Retton, the first American woman to win an Olympic all-around gold, who was flashing perfect-10 fingers, blowing kisses to Kelley, and getting tearful as she watched her daughter's team take home the runner-up trophy. Kelley is a senior at LSU, which means this may have been her last performance with the team. When she was 18, Retton retired from professional gymnastics because she "wanted to be remembered as a winner" and not as "some struggling older athlete," per NBC Sports. RELATED VIDEO: UCLA Gymnastics Star Katelyn Ohashi Breaks the Internet with Perfect Floor Routine. RELATED:See Michael Jordan's Three Oldest Kids All Grown Up. Registered gymnasts will receive a custom GK leotard. I popped a rib last week, so thats pretty painful. Retton was born with hip dysplasia, a condition that her years as a competitive gymnast aggravated. [3], Her gold medal win was historic as Retton was the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal in Olympic gymnastics. -- When your mom is Olympic gymnastics superstar Mary Lou Retton and you take up her sport, there are bound to be certain expectations. Kerri Strug's Heroic Vault Was 25 Years Ago. This wasn't her only win at the games; she also won silver in the team and vault competitions, along with bronze medals in uneven bar and floor exercise. if( 'moc.enilnoefiltseb' !== location.hostname.split('').reverse().join('') ) { But the team's celebration, as confetti showered down, was just as jubilant as if they'd won it all. National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association. Im excited scared, but excited.. She'll be starting her junior year this fall and is in the Alpha Phi sorority. She retired from gymnastics after graduating college, but McKenna is still involved with the sport in her own way. A post shared by Mary Lou Retton (@marylouretton) Though Retton admits shes a pretty private person, she decided to share the news about her divorce in such a public manner so that she could be transparent about everything she had been going through. (Retton lives in Houston, and the show is filmed in Los Angeles. On LSU's senior night in March, Kelley earned her first career perfect 10, with Retton watching from the crowd. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Instead of pursuing gymnastics, Skyla was on the cheerleading team during her four years of high school. [11] Together they have four daughters: Shayla (born 1995), McKenna (born 1997), a former NCAA gymnast at Louisiana State University, Skyla (born 2000), and Emma (born 2002). 66.9k Followers, 1,325 Following, 744 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Mary Lou Retton (@marylouretton) marylouretton. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Mary Lou Retton is opening up about her divorce from ex-husband Shannon Kelley. xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); Skater Gracie Gold 'Overwhelmed' After Emotional Routine Returning from Depression Struggles, All the Olympians Who've Competed on 'Dancing with the Stars', Simone Biles and 'Today' Surprise Sunisa Lee's Father with New Wheelchair: 'This is Amazing', Mary Lou Retton talks about staying healthy for her kids, UCLA Gymnast Who Scored Perfect 10 Officially Finishes Her College Career with Upbeat Routine, Jade Carey Wins Gold! Unlike her older sisters, Skyla isn't involved in collegiate gymnastics. Those #goals aren't what they seem. She went to The University of Texas, where she met her husband, Shannon Kelly, who played quarterback for the Longhorns. This year, Kelley is a senior. I dont think another year of gymnastics could give me anything I needed more, she said, adding that her team at LSU has been so special and she wants to finish her college journey with them. Ahead of her daughters last outing on the floor, Retton revealed that she told Kelley to make sure to enjoy the moment. Mary Lou Retton's daughter nailed her routine at the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships She almost got a perfect score! "My role is to love them no matter what, have that shoulder for them to cry on if they're hurt or frustrated," she explained to Parade. (She shared the title with Mackenzie Brannan.) Ice Skating Stars of the '90s and '00s: Where Are They Now?