Olympian Mary Lou Retton Suffers ‘Scary Setback’ in ICU

Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton suffered a “scary setback” while battling a rare form of pneumonia.

Her daughter Shayla Schrepfer shared the update on her mom’s progress with fans via Instagram.

She explained in a video, “Basically, at the beginning of this week, we were going on the up and up… We were so excited, seeing so much progress, and then yesterday we had a pretty scary setback. She is still in ICU and we're just working through some things as far as her setback goes. So, I just wanted to give an update there.”

“She had a better day today, which is great, just really, really exhausted. She is.”

Just a few days ago Shayla and her sisters had posted a positive update, saying, “Mom’s progress is truly remarkable” and that her “reliance on machines is diminishing.”

They said she was “responding well to treatments,” and shared “witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartening.”

Mary Lou’s health battle came to light earlier this month when her daughters revealed that she was fighting for her life and did not have insurance. They have since raised more than $450,000 on Spotfund.

Retton, now 55, was a household name in the 1980s. She took home gold in gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics, making history as the first American woman to win the all-around gold. The athlete also earned two silver medals and two bronze that year.

Her performance earned her the title of Sports Illustrated’s Sportswoman of the Year, and her face appeared on a Wheaties box. After winning the American Cup all-around competition for the third time in 1985, she retired in 1986.

Mary Lou was back in the spotlight in 2018, competing on “Dancing with the Stars” Season 27 with pro partner Sasha Farber.