Olympic gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton has been charged with driving under the influence in West Virginia.
Retton, 57, was stopped in Marion County, West Virginia, on May 17 and charged with one misdemeanor count of “driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs,” online court records show.
Retton was released the day of her arrest after posting $1,500 bond.
She has not yet issued a plea, court records show.
Retton’s attorney, Edmund J. Rollo, declined to comment on the case when reached Tuesday by ABC News.
Retton’s arrest comes two years after the gold-medal winning gymnast overcame what she would later describe as a life-threatening battle with pneumonia that required a nearly two-week stay in the intensive care unit.
In an interview last May, Retton said she was still suffering complications from the 2023 health scare that left her hospitalized.
“I still have a hard time breathing and getting breath to speak,” Retton told “Entertainment Tonight,” adding at the time that she remained on supplemental oxygen. “I’m a speaker [and] I haven’t been able to really work because I don’t know if I can get up on stage and do an hourlong talk like I’ve normally done for 40 years. That’s frustrating. It’s been hard, I have to say.”
Retton said in the interview that she battled a “rare form of pneumonia.” Pneumonia is a type of lung infection that can be caused by a variety of factors, such as bacteria, fungi, a parasite or a virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During her illness, Retton’s four daughters set up an online fundraiser for her medical bills. The fundraiser drew some criticism, with some people questioning why a legendary athlete who was once the cover star for Wheaties’ boxed cereal would fall on hard financial times.
“They were just trying to take care of me,” Retton told “ET” of her daughters’ fundraising efforts.
Noting that she lacked health insurance when the fundraiser was started, Retton said in response to the criticism, “You’re welcome to, you know, your opinion. But you weren’t in that situation. My daughters stepped up to the plate and they saved my life.”
Retton is most famous for her performance in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where she scored a series of perfect 10s to become the first-ever American to win an Olympic individual all-round gold.
Retton also won two additional silver medals and two bronze medals at the Los Angeles Olympics, making her the most decorated athlete of that Olympics, according to her official Olympics biography.
Retton has remained an iconic American sports hero in the decades since and was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.
In 2018, Retton competed on season 27 of ABC’s dancing competition show “Dancing with the Stars.”
The post Olympic legend Mary Lou Retton arrested for DUI appeared first on ABC News.
