BATON ROUGE — Olympic champion Mary Lou Retton was recognized for her outstanding athletic accomplishments last Saturday at the LSU-Florida football game as she was presented with the first-ever honorary LSU letter jacket.
Retton first made her mark on the LSU campus nearly 20 years ago as a part of the prestigious Mardi Gras Invitational. Prior to the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Retton gave LSU fans a preview of what was to come when she swept the all-around and individual event awards at the Mardi Gras Invitational.
She then catapulted to international fame at the Summer Games when she became the first American woman to ever win the gold medal in the all-around.
Retton then returned to the PMAC the following year where she and fellow Olympians Peter Vidmar, Tim Daggett, Jim Hartung and Julianne McNamara packed the PMAC with over 14,000 people for an exhibition performance.
“It has given me such pleasure to watch Mary Lou grow up from an age-group gymnast, to a Mardi Gras Invitational champion, to a national champion and an Olympic champion,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “She has changed our sport. We (LSU) wanted to say thank you for helping make gymnastics a spectator sport not only in Baton Rouge, but in the youth sport industry. For that I felt truly honored to give Mary Lou something that was fitting and only LSU could provide, a letter jacket.”