Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton is making ‘remarkable’ progress, says family

FILE – In this Aug. 3, 1984, file photo, Mary Lou Retton, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the women’s gymnastics individual all-around finals at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis, File)

PUBLISHED: October 16, 2023 at 4:10 p.m. | UPDATED: October 16, 2023 at 4:26 p.m.

The family of Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton says she is making “remarkable” progress in her battle with a rare form of pneumonia that landed her in intensive care.

McKenna Kelley, one of Retton’s four daughters, posted an update on Instagram Saturday that said the 55-year-old Retton’s breathing is becoming stronger and her “path to recovery is steadily progressing.”

“Though it’s a lengthy journey, witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartening,” Kelley wrote. “She’s beginning to respond to treatments.”

The family disclosed earlier this week that Retton — who became the first American female gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics — was “fighting for her life” and unable to breath on her own after being diagnosed with pneumonia.

Donations have poured into a fundraiser the family set up to help offset Retton’s medical expenses after the family said she didn’t have medical insurance. There’s been more than 7,500 donations totaling over $415,000 by Saturday afternoon.

Retton was 16 when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games. The native of Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.

Mary Lou Retton reacts to applause after her performance at her Olympics gymnastic event on Aug. 3, 1984 in Los Angeles. She scored a total of 79.175 to take the gold medal in individual all around competition. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis)
Mary Lou Retton celebrates her balance beam score at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles on Aug. 3, 1984. Retton, 16, became the first American woman ever to win an individual Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
Mary Lou Retton of the USA beams after winning the gold medal in Olympics individual all-around gymnastics competition Aug. 3, 1984. (AP Photo)
Mary Lou Retton of the USA is hugged by her coach, Bela Karolyi, following her perfect performance in the floor exercise in Olympic individual all-around finals Friday night, Aug. 3, 1984 in Los Angeles. Retton won the gold medal in the event. (AP Photo/Sadayuki Mikami)
Mary Lou Retton of team USA is shown during her perfect performance in the floor exercise in the Olympic individual all-around finals in Los Angeles, Calif., on Aug. 3, 1984 during the Summer Olympics. Retton edged out Ecaterina Szabo of Romania for the gold medal. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
Team U.S.A. gymnast Mary Lou Retton performs during the balance beam exercise during the gymnastics competition in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 30, 1984. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis)
American gymnast Mary Lou Retton celebrates after a victory at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug.12, 1984. (AP Poto)
American gymnast Mary Lou Retton on the balance beam at he compulsories of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., July 30, 1984. (AP Photo)
American gymnast Mary Lou Retton celebrates at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 3, 1984. (AP Photo)
Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton waves to the crowd from the back of a car during a parade through Dallas, Aug. 17, 1984. The parade was held to honor the Olympic athletes. (AP Photo)
American gymnast Mary Lou Retton preparing for the horse vault at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 5, 1984. (AP Photo)
Mary Lou Retton at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 1, 1984. (AP Photo)
Seen here is gymnast Mary Lou Retton during the floor exercise at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif. in 1984. (AP Photo)
American gymnast Mary Lou Retton during her balance beam routine at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 3, 1984. (AP Photo)
American gymnast Mary Lou Retton with her gold medal for women’s gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 5, 1984. (AP Photo)
Mary Lou Retton at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 1, 1984. (AP Photo)
Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton is given a ride Dec. 10, 1984 by Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie and Bob Hope during the taping in Burbank, Calif. of Bob Hope’s upcoming 35th Christmas television special. (AP Photo)
USA Gymnast Mary Lou Retton scores a 9.80 on the beam Friday, August 4,1984 in Los Angeles during the Summer Olympic Games. (AP Photo)
Mary Lou Retton on the balance beam March 5, 1984. (AP Photo)
Mary Lou Retton, foreground, with her gold medal and Ecaterina Szabo with her silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 5, 1984. (AP Photo)
Olympic gold-medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton poses for a photo in New York in this Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Hillary Rhodes)
Olympic gold medalists Joan Benoit, left, and Mary Lou Retton hold the J&B Amateur Sportswoman of the Year award of which the two athletes were co-recipients, in New York, Sept. 24, 1984. (AP Photo/G. Ronald Lopez)
Olympian Mary Lou Retton, right, hugs Samantha Peszek as Retton’s daughter McKennea Kelley, second from left, hugs Alicia Sacramone after the final day of competition at the USA Gymnastics Olympic selection camp Saturday, July 19, 2008 in New Waverly, Texas. Sacramone and Peszek were both selected for the Olympic team. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
**FOR USE IN WEEKEND EDITIONS OF JULY 25-27** FILE ** In this Oct. 10, 1984 file photo, Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, left, gets a kiss from San Diego Padres ace relief pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage before a World Series baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in San Diego. Gossage did more than just play in the major leagues. He became a dominant relief pitcher in a 22-year career that will receive its finishing touch on Sunday, July 27, 2008, when he is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. (AP Photo)
Former Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton-Kelley, right, sits with her husband Shannon Kelley, left, during the entertainment portion of the Official Dinner for the Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Cheryl Miller, center, member of the U.S. womens gold-medal basketball team, evokes laughter from fellow Olympians Steve Lundquist, left, and Mary Lou Retton, right, as they stand with Pres. Ronald Reagan and Mrs. Nancy Reagan during a tribute breakfast at the Century Plaza Hotel, Monday, Aug. 13, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
Pres. Ronald Reagan, left, receives a big hug from West Virginias Mary Lou Retton after the gold-medal gymnast presented the President with a jacket from members of the United States Olympic team during breakfast in their honor at the Century Plaza Hotel, Monday, Aug. 13, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
Mary Lou Retton in 1983. Location unknown. (AP Photo)
Mary Lou Retton of Fairmont, W. Va., vaults her way to a gold medal in the womens individual finals of the McDonalds 1983 International Gymnastics Championships at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 28, 1983. Retton also won a gold medal in the uneven parallel bars and one in the floor exercise. She won a bronze medal in the balance beam. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
Olympic Gold medalist of the 1984 summer games, Mary Lou Retton is all smiles after her wedding with Shannon Kelley in Houston on Saturday, Dec. 29, 1990. Kelley was the start-quarterback at the University of Texas in 1988. (AP Photo/Tim Johnson)
Mary Lou Retton, former Olympic Gold medalist in gymnastics speaking in 1992. Location unknown. (AP Photo/RD)
Michael Jordan feeds Mary Lou Retton a spoonful of the new Wheaties cereal as Bruce Jenner, left, and Bob Richards, right, taste their bowls of Wheaties during a news conference in Chicago on Sept. 21, 1994, introducing the new flavor. Each of the athletes has appeared on Wheaties boxes. (AP Photo/Charles Bennett)
Gathered together in New York on Tuesday, August 2, 1988, at a reception for the 1990 Goodwill Games to be held in Seattle, back row are: John Naber, senior executive, vice president Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc., and Olympic medal winners Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Middle row are: Tracie Ruiz Cenfortg, Debi Thomas, Bart Conner and Mark Breland with Mary Lous Retton, center front. (AP Photo/Adam Stoltman)
Mary Lou Retton of Houston, Texas, goes through her balance beam routine during the individual title competition at the McDonalds/USGF Gymnastics championships in Evanston, Illinois on Sunday, May 13, 1984. Retton scored a perfect 10.00 in floor exercise and took first place in the vault; she is expecting to be a strong contender for the Womens Olympic team. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell)
Olympic Gold medalist Mary Lou Retton prepares to throw out, or up in this case, the game ball for match up between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors in Los Angeles on Dec. 12, 1984. The Lakers Kareem Adul-Jabbar along with Warriors Jerome Whitehead, left, wait for Mary Lou to do her thing. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton of Houston, Texas performs on the balance beam at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Feb. 3, 1985, during the Vidal Sassoon Looking Good Tour. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing)
Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton greets former World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali before the Third Annual Arete Awards for Courage in Sports in Chicago on December 7, 1992. Ali received the Life Achievement award. (AP Photo/Mike Fisher)
Former New York Knicks general manager Dave DeBusschere, left, and Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton, right, react differently to banter prior to the start of a press conference in Philadelphia on Jan. 8, 1986, where plans were announced to send some $1 million in vitamin supplements to assist in combating hunger in Third World countries and America. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton performs in the final event of the American Cup gymnastics competition in Indianapolis on March 3, 1985. Retton became the first woman gymnast to win three American Cup titles with first place finishes in all four womens events. (AP Photo/DA)
Former Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton with her baby, Shayla Ray Kelley in Houston, Texas on April 20, 1995. (AP Photo/Brett Coomer)
Bela Karolyi, left, and former American gymnast Mary Lou Retton, who was on the USA women’s team that Karolyi coached to an Olympic gold medal in the 1996 Altanta Olympics, share a laugh during the American Cup gymnastics meet at Madison Square Garden in New York, Saturday, March 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
America’s Mary Lou Retton holds up her arms during her routine on the Balance Beam during the Women’s Gymnastics event at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, USA on August. 5, 1984. (AP Photo)
Mary Lou Retton arrives at the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Mary Lou Retton raises her arms high after receiving the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Aug. 3, 1984. At right is the bronze medalist Simona Pauca of Romania. (AP Photo)
FILE – In this 1984 file photo, Mary Lou Retton celebrates her balance beam score at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
FILE – In this Aug. 4,1984, file photo, USA Gymnast Mary Lou Retton scores a 9.80 result on the beam in Los Angeles during the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. The US Olympic Committee selected Los Angeles as replacement candidate for 2024 games on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. (AP Photo, File)
FILE- In this Dec. 10, 1984, file photo, Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie and entertainer Bob Hope hoist Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton off the ground during taping of Hope’s upcoming Christmas special. A gold medal used to be the golden ticket for lucrative endorsements, but in the age of social media, athletes are making a name for themselves well ahead of time. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
FILE – Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee Shannon Miller, right, stands with her presenter, Mary Lou Retton, in Oklahoma City on Nov. 16, 2017. Retton. 55, is in intensive care in a Texas hospital fighting a rare form of pneumonia, according to her daughter McKenna Kelley. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
FILE – Mary Lou Retton, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the women’s gymnastics individual all-around finals at the Summer Olympics on Aug. 3, 1984, in Los Angeles. Retton. 55, is in intensive care in a Texas hospital fighting a rare form of pneumonia, according to her daughter McKenna Kelley. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis, File)
FILE- Mary Lou Retton reacts to applause after her performance at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles on Aug. 3, 1984. Retton. 55, is in intensive care in a Texas hospital fighting a rare form of pneumonia, according to her daughter McKenna Kelley. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis, File)