Exclusive | Fall of a hero: How gymnastics made Mary Lou Retton a star and damaged her forever as shes left relying on oxygen

Mary Lou Retton became a true American hero while still a teenager, scooping a spectacular Gold in the individual all-around competition at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, aged just 16.The price of such glories had to be paid in later life.“She couldn’t even take a full breath when I talked to her, she takes these little panting breaths,” ex-brother-in-law Shaun Kelley, who remains close to her, told The Post. It’s a far cry from when she proudly became the first female athlete to grace a Wheaties box in her Olympic year.Retton, now 57, frequently wears an oxygen tube, remains on medication and has undergone many debilitating hip surgeries which have left her struggling physically.

It’s a heavy toll which her career as an Olympian has taken on her body, according to Kelley, who said he last spoke with Retton a few weeks ago.The once mighty 4’9” gymnast crashed back into the news on May 17 when she was hit with a DUI after cops in her hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia, allegedly found her in her 2019 Porsche Macan in an AutoZone parking lot.An arrest report claimed she reeked of booze, was slurring her words and had a bottle of wine by her side.Somewhat ironically, she was just two miles away from her namesake Mary Lou Retton Drive when it happened.Kelley said Retton — who also has a home in Boerne, Texas — continues to undergo treatment for long COVID and lung problems and he was alarmed by the alleged presence of the wine.“She is on all these meds and one drink could throw off her brain chemistry,” he claimed, adding that since the incident — from which she quickly bailed out of jail — “she is healing” and laying low in West Virginia.“She’s a great mother and a giving person, she raised four amazing daughters,” he added, saying he hopes she gets better.

He also clarified Retton has no history of alcohol abuse that he knew of.Retton – whose daughters are all with ex Shannon Kelley, whom she divorced after 27 years of mar...