People who remember Retton as a 16-year-old gymnast may have to check twice to
recognize her now. She is smaller than when she won her
all-around gold medal, and at her San Francisco hotel suite
Monday, Retton looked rather grown up. She wore perfect
makeup, an elegant pantsuit with a small pink sash, stylish
chandelier earrings and strappy white sandals with flowers
-- a very "Sex and the City goes to Houston" effect.
That's where
she lives now, with her husband, former University of Texas
quarterback Shannon Kelley, and their girls: Shayla, 10;
McKenna, 8; Skyla, 4, and Emma, 2.
The couple
married 15 years ago and came to Napa on their honeymoon. "I
was only 22 when I got married," she said with a sigh that
should denote middle age, but somehow doesn't. When Retton
talks, the eternal teenager comes out, her enthusiasm
lightly seasoned, but not dulled, by maturity.
"She's what I
called 'stupid strong,' " Retton said when she described
McKenna. "That's what I used to say about myself. I was
stupid strong." Translation: She will try almost anything,
confident that her body will come through.
"This child
can climb a rope in the pike position, with just her hands,"
her mom said, demonstrating in her chair, pushing her legs
out parallel to the ground, an example of the pike position.
McKenna shows
a lot of promise as a young gymnast, Retton said.
"Naturally, I have some mixed feelings about that. Will
there be unrealistic expectations because she's my daughter,
from the media and fans? Will she have to live in my
shadow?"
The sport
would be better off if every young woman looked like her
heir. Retton was a healthy bundle of muscles when she
competed, a pleasant contrast to some of the wispy,
underdeveloped athletes who turn up at the Olympics. When
she watched last summer's Games from Athens, Retton said,
she made sure her daughters noted one emaciated competitor
from Russia and knew she was misguided.
"She was a
little scary to watch," Retton said. "She hasn't come out
and said she has a problem, but clearly she does."
It's equally
clear that Retton doesn't care for her sport's reputation as
a breeding ground for eating disorders. From her
perspective, gymnastics cultivated a feisty side, and
rewarded it. She doesn't understand how the sport could turn
anyone into a victim, or how anyone could spend eight hours
a day in a gym while starving herself.
She defends
her famous coach, the bearish Bela Karolyi, who has been
portrayed as dangerously controlling.
"It always
bothers me when I see these stories on TV, criticizing Bela,"
she said. "Nobody ever calls me."
She said he
was demanding, driven and manipulative, all in ways that
worked for her. She remembered doing routines or vaults in
practice, then looking over to Karolyi for an expected
critique. If he wanted more from her, he often looked away,
as if to say: "You have to earn my attention."
"Bela, he
really knew how to push my buttons," Retton said admiringly.
She said he
never made the girls climb onto a scale, which she
appreciated. She didn't want to worry about drinking a glass
of water at the wrong time, adding a pound just before
weigh-in.
"Sometimes
he'd tell me, 'You look a little fat,' but I'd just think,
'What about you?' " she said. Apparently, her attitude was
as healthy as her physique.
In a poll
taken nine years after her Olympic victory, Retton was voted
the most popular athlete in America. There have been great
U.S. gymnasts since her, and in Athens, Carly Patterson
became the second American woman to win the all-around. But
Retton transformed the sport in this country, matching her
gold medal with a platinum personality. People may have to
look twice to recognize the kid from West Virginia in this
polished adult, but she's still there. Just ask her how her
8-year-old climbs a rope.
from US
Olympic team.com.
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