On Tuesday, Oct. 10, McKenna Kelley, one of the four daughters of legendary gymnastMary Lou Retton, shared on her Instagram Story (as reported by People) that her mother is in the hospital battling "a very rare form of pneumonia" and "is not able to breathe on her own." McKenna also shared a crowdfunding page for Retton's care, leading many fans of the Olympian to donate and share their well-wishes on social media.
Retton, 55, made history at the 1984 Summer Olympics when she became the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal. This wasn’t her only win at the games; she also won silver in the team and vault competitions, along with bronze medals in uneven bar and floor exercise. When she was 18, Retton retired from professional gymnastics because she “wanted to be remembered as a winner” and not as “some struggling older athlete,” per NBC Sports. She attended the the University of Texas, where she met her husband, Shannon Kelly, who played quarterback for the Longhorns. After nearly 30 years of marriage, the couple divorced in 2018, but they still share their four daughters: Shayla Schrepfer, McKenna Kelley, Skyla Kelley, and Emma Kelley. And all of them have been involved with gymnastics, like their mom.
To see Retton’s four daughters, read about their accomplishments in the gym, and learn more about their family, read on.
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Shayla was on her college’s acrobatics and tumbling team.
At 28 years old, Shayla is Retton’s eldest daughter. She graduated from Baylor University in 2017 with a major in Health Science. She was also on the school’s acrobatics and tumbling team for all four years. Her university profile notes that, as a junior, Shayla qualified in three events at the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association’s Individual Championships and won one. Also in 2016, Shayla and her team’s pyramid toss scored a 9.9 at a meet against Quinnipiac University. She also competed in multiple club gymnastics competitions when she was in high school.
Shayla didn’t continue tumbling after college, however. She now has her own YouTube channel, which she started in 2015. She posts videos about her daily life, which often feature her siblings and husband, Wyatt Schrepfer, who also studied at Baylor University. The couple got married in January 2020. She also shares videos and Instagram posts about bodybuilding competitions, which she began entering over the past year.
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McKenna won her first major gymnastics competition when she was 17.
Keith Gillett/Icon SportswireMcKenna, who's now 26, was co-champion of the Nastia Liukin Cup, an annual U.S. competition hosted by the former Olympian, in 2014. (She shared the title with Mackenzie Brannan.) McKenna then took her gymnastics career to the collegiate level at Louisiana State University. In her senior year, she scored a 9.8875 in the vault competition at the NCAA Team Finals. She also scored a perfect 10 on a floor exercise at a meet against Oregon State University.
While McKenna grew up with a world-famous Olympian, she says that her mom never pressured her into becoming a gymnast. “I don’t think I understood the enormity of what she did and the groundbreaking gymnastics she did at the time,” she told Today of Retton in 2019. “I think people expect this elaborate answer of she made me run at 6 a.m in the morning, but she’s just mom to me. That’s all she is.”
She retired from gymnastics after graduating college, but McKenna is still involved with the sport in her own way. She and her mom co-host the women’s gymnastics tour, “For Mothers and Daughters Forever Our Legacy.” The tour is open to gymnasts from the beginner competitive level through the junior level and benefits The McKenna Kelly Foundation, which donates to non-profits focusing on mental health.
Like her older sister, McKenna also has a YouTube channel where she shares glimpses into her life.
Skyla was a competitive cheerleader.
Next is Skyla, who’s 23 years old and a recent graduate of Texas Tech University. Unlike her older sisters, she wasn't involved in collegiate gymnastics.
However, Skyla did do gymnastics as a child, starting at the age of three. But she and her siblings were never forced to continue doing it if they didn’t want to, which McKenna noted to Tiger Rag, an LSU magazine. Instead of pursuing gymnastics, Skyla was on the cheerleading team during her four years of high school. She also participated in several cheer competitions, per Yahoo!
And while she may not share the same athletic interests as her family, they’re still close. She also posts frequently about her three sisters, as well as her mom and dad.
Emma is a senior on her university's gymnastics team.
Emma, who is the baby of the family at age 21, is a senior at the University of Arkansas and part of the school's gymnastics team.
Her Razorbacks profile notes she competed in vault in three tournaments during her junior year, achieving a personal best score in one of them. Her bio also states that she finished in fourth place at the Texas State Championship 2016, with a score of 9.8 in vault and 9.675 in floor exercise.
Emma also teamed up with her mom to design a line of leotards for the brand Foxy, which they both model on the store's website.
Retton doesn’t like to interfere with her kids’ gymnastics careers.
Even with four kids who’ve done gymnastics, Retton has never been tempted to coach them herself. Speaking to Parade in 2016, the gold medalist said that she doesn’t give her daughters pointers about the sport unless they ask for it. "Honestly, I don’t really give advice or get involved unless asked," she explained. "Very seldom, they’ll come home and be having a problem on a skill or something and say, 'Mom, I’m having trouble, will you comment or what do you think.'"
Despite her daughters’ success in their athletic pursuits, Retton has said that the main thing she’s focused on is their happiness. "My role is to love them no matter what, have that shoulder for them to cry on if they’re hurt or frustrated," she explained to Parade. "I just want them to know that I’m proud of them no matter what, whether they’re gymnasts or not, just because they’re human."
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