GROWN-UP RETTON STILL STRIKES A BALANCE

 

 
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The tiny Texan remembers trying some tumbling at her kids' gymnastics center about a year ago, reliving a sliver of her youth. The next day, she felt so sore she could barely move.

"Your mind says you can still do it," Mary Lou Retton said, flashing the smile that defined the 1984 Summer Olympics.

These days, she leaves the gymnastics to her four daughters. But at 37, she is in impeccable shape, despite the rigors of being a mother and a corporate spokeswoman. Work brought her to San Francisco this week, and she will appear at the Stonestown Mall today on behalf of a sponsor.

People who remember Retton as a 16-year-old gymnast may have to check twice to recognize her now. She is smaller than when she won her all-around gold medal, and at her San Francisco hotel suite Monday, Retton looked rather grown up. She wore perfect makeup, an elegant pantsuit with a small pink sash, stylish chandelier earrings and strappy white sandals with flowers -- a very "Sex and the City goes to Houston" effect.

That's where she lives now, with her husband, former University of Texas quarterback Shannon Kelley, and their girls: Shayla, 10; McKenna, 8; Skyla, 4, and Emma, 2.

The couple married 15 years ago and came to Napa on their honeymoon. "I was only 22 when I got married," she said with a sigh that should denote middle age, but somehow doesn't. When Retton talks, the eternal teenager comes out, her enthusiasm lightly seasoned, but not dulled, by maturity.

"She's what I called 'stupid strong,' " Retton said when she described McKenna. "That's what I used to say about myself. I was stupid strong." Translation: She will try almost anything, confident that her body will come through.

"This child can climb a rope in the pike position, with just her hands," her mom said, demonstrating in her chair, pushing her legs out parallel to the ground, an example of the pike position.

McKenna shows a lot of promise as a young gymnast, Retton said. "Naturally, I have some mixed feelings about that. Will there be unrealistic expectations because she's my daughter, from the media and fans? Will she have to live in my shadow?"

The sport would be better off if every young woman looked like her heir. Retton was a healthy bundle of muscles when she competed, a pleasant contrast to some of the wispy, underdeveloped athletes who turn up at the Olympics. When she watched last summer's Games from Athens, Retton said, she made sure her daughters noted one emaciated competitor from Russia and knew she was misguided.

"She was a little scary to watch," Retton said. "She hasn't come out and said she has a problem, but clearly she does."

It's equally clear that Retton doesn't care for her sport's reputation as a breeding ground for eating disorders. From her perspective, gymnastics cultivated a feisty side, and rewarded it. She doesn't understand how the sport could turn anyone into a victim, or how anyone could spend eight hours a day in a gym while starving herself.

She defends her famous coach, the bearish Bela Karolyi, who has been portrayed as dangerously controlling.

"It always bothers me when I see these stories on TV, criticizing Bela," she said. "Nobody ever calls me."

She said he was demanding, driven and manipulative, all in ways that worked for her. She remembered doing routines or vaults in practice, then looking over to Karolyi for an expected critique. If he wanted more from her, he often looked away, as if to say: "You have to earn my attention."

"Bela, he really knew how to push my buttons," Retton said admiringly.

She said he never made the girls climb onto a scale, which she appreciated. She didn't want to worry about drinking a glass of water at the wrong time, adding a pound just before weigh-in.

"Sometimes he'd tell me, 'You look a little fat,' but I'd just think, 'What about you?' " she said. Apparently, her attitude was as healthy as her physique.

In a poll taken nine years after her Olympic victory, Retton was voted the most popular athlete in America. There have been great U.S. gymnasts since her, and in Athens, Carly Patterson became the second American woman to win the all-around. But Retton transformed the sport in this country, matching her gold medal with a platinum personality. People may have to look twice to recognize the kid from West Virginia in this polished adult, but she's still there. Just ask her how her 8-year-old climbs a rope.

from US Olympic team.com.

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