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11 unusual facts about Mary Lou Retton


ABC Funfit

Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton hosted the series, assisted by the "Funfit Kids" (Ericka Pazcoquin, Bradley Kane, Melissa Kern and Efrain Bracero).

Biomet

American gymnast Mary Lou Retton endorses Biomet, specifically the Oxford Partial Knee.

Brad Blum

Blum's legacy with General Mills is most noted for three things: one, he is credited for being the person for putting the first female athlete on a Wheaties box (Mary Lou Retton), two, Blum is also regarded to be responsible for putting Walter Peyton on a Wheaties box which made Peyton the first African American athlete to do so, and lastly, the invention of a new cereal for General Mills; Cinnamon Toast Crunch, General Mills' most profitable brands.

Dickran Palulian

Among his many notable accomplishments include taking the picture of Mary Lou Retton that was used on the Wheaties box after she won several gold medals at the 1984 Olympics.

Fairmont Senior High School

Mary Lou Retton, American all-around gold-winning Olympic gymnast.

Malia Hosaka

In her debut match, Hosaka (wearing a Mary Lou Retton-inspired gymnastics outfit and billed as "Malia Ho") teamed with Simmes against Mad Dog Debbie Irons and Linda Dallas.

Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop

Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop, a children's television series featuring Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton, was created to motivate young children to believe in themselves and get moving.

Shannon Kelley

After graduating, he married Olympian and popular American athlete Mary Lou Retton and went into college coaching.

Kelley began dating Mary Lou Retton, winner of the Olympic gold medal in the Gymnastic Individual All-around competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, while in college.

Tracy Mattes

In 2009 Tracy was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, joining an elite fraternity of past inductees such as Tennis great Arthur Ashe, Olympian Jesse Owens, Gymnast Mary Lou Retton, Major League Baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, soccer great Pelé and the Harlem Globetrotters.

USA Gymnastics

Among these are Chairman Peter Vidmar; Athlete Directors Michael Rodrigues, John Roethlisberger, and Kim Zmeskal; and Public Sector Director Mary Lou Retton.


Béla Károlyi

Among the gymnasts Béla and Márta Károlyi have trained are Nadia Comăneci, Svetlana Boginskaya, Mary Lou Retton, Betty Okino, Teodora Ungureanu, Kim Zmeskal, Kristie Phillips, Dominique Moceanu, and Kerri Strug, whom he is famous for carrying to the podium after she injured her ankle on the gold medal-winning vault in the team competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Women's sports

This large pool of female athletes enabled the U.S. to consistently rank among the top nations in women's Olympic sports, and female Olympians from skater Peggy Fleming (1968) to Mary Lou Retton (1986) became household names.