GYMNAST

Mary Lou Retton

1968 - Today

Photo of Mary Lou Retton

Icon of person Mary Lou Retton

Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Retton's performance made her one of the most popular athletes in the United States. Her gold medal win was historic as Retton was the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal in Olympic gymnastics. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Mary Lou Retton has received more than 5,343,957 page views. Her biography is available in 31 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 28 in 2019). Mary Lou Retton is the 181st most popular gymnast (down from 162nd in 2019), the 14,900th most popular biography from United States (down from 13,921st in 2019) and the 6th most popular American Gymnast.

Mary Lou Retton is most famous for being the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal in gymnastics at the Olympics, achieving this at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. She was known not just for her athletic prowess but also for her infectious smile and positive attitude, which earned her a place in the hearts of many Americans during that time.

Memorability Metrics

  • 5.3M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 44.98

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 31

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.19

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.25

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among GYMNASTS

Among gymnasts, Mary Lou Retton ranks 181 out of 370. Before her are Mariana Constantin, Henrietta Ónodi, Andreea Răducan, Lavinia Miloșovici, Valeri Liukin, and Aliya Mustafina. After her are Lou Yun, Simona Păucă, Andreas Wecker, Peter Vidmar, Epke Zonderland, and Szilveszter Csollány.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1968, Mary Lou Retton ranks 658. Before her are Vladimir Malakhov, Ken Marino, Warren Ellis, Tsutomu Takahata, Giorgi Baramidze, and Greg Baker. After her are Tamer Hassan, Lisa Loeb, Troy McLawhorn, Carsten Embach, Ed Quinn, and Attila Bartis.

Others Born in 1968

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Mary Lou Retton ranks 14,900 out of 20,380. Before her are Brock Adams (1927), Little Jimmy Dickens (1920), Tyron Woodley (1982), Angelo Taylor (1978), Christopher Abbott (1986), and Ray Lumpp (1923). After her are Marc Maron (1963), Jim Doyle (1945), Sidney Lanier (1842), Joanna Newsom (1982), Laurie Bartram (1958), and Ted Jensen (1954).

Others born in United States

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Among GYMNASTS In United States

Among gymnasts born in United States, Mary Lou Retton ranks 6. Before her are Herman Glass (1880), Larry Nassar (1963), Edward Hennig (1879), Bart Conner (1958), and Simone Biles (1997). After her are Peter Vidmar (1961), Shannon Miller (1977), Julianne McNamara (1965), Dominique Moceanu (1981), McKayla Maroney (1995), and Gabby Douglas (1995).

American born Gymnasts

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