When it was announced by the IOC that LA would be the host city of the 1984 games, my family held a celebration. Mom & Dad naturally entered the lottery to attain gymnastics tickets, and we were lucky enough to get them. The timing of the LA Olympics fell on the end of a pre-planned dream trip – a gymnastics tour of the People’s Republic of China. Needless to say – between China and the Olympics, I, like Mary Lou, was in for quite a summer!

The China trip was incredible. We spent 3 weeks touring the country & working out with their top athletes. We learned a lot about gymnastics and about ourselves.  And, the entire experience really got us pumped up to see the Chinese & the Americans in the Olympics.

I have to tell you, that for me, walking into Pauley Pavillion to see the Olympic Gymnastics Competition was like entering the Magic Kingdom. Before my own eyes I saw my heroes – Julianne McNamara, Bart Connor, Tracee Talavera, Mitch Gatylord, and yes – Mary Lou Retton. Having just returned from China, we felt a bond with the chinese athletes – Li Ning, & Ma Yanhong. We yelled "Zao Zhien Pen Yo" as the Chinese walked by and they reciprocated with bows, smiles, waves, and even tossed us souveniers.

But there was nothing like seeing the American girls in that USA flag leotard.

The place went crazy as they marched in. I’ve never been in Cameron for an ACC matchup, but it has to feel the same. Everywhere you looked there was a sea of American flags and chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" . When you took your eyes off the floor to pan the crowd you’d see movie stars. I looked back one day and saw John Travolta with Marilu Henner! Their photo is in my scrapbook. After all, this was LA!

We sat through the preliminary rounds of compulsories loving every minute of it. We saw the American men win the gold and the women take silver. We came to the women’s all-around knowing that Mary Lou had a slight edge.

Gymnastics scoring is a complicated thing, and computer scoring in the mid-80’s was not where it is today. We took complete gymnastics results from the paper and a calculator with us to the women’s all-around finals. We followed the routines like hawks, jotting down scores and calculating the leaders. The rest of the crowd didn’t know where any of the athletes stood, but we sure did. Mary Lou started on bars & beam where her routines were good but not perfect. After two events she was in second place.

Ecaterina Szabo was the leading Romanian of the leading dynasty in our sport, and she was hot that day. After two events she was in first place, but she lacked the spunk of an American girl living a dream. Mary Lou attacked the floor exercise, tumbling sky high yet dancing & playing the crowd the entire time. The place roared when she got her "10" but Ecaterina had just scored 9.90 and was still in the lead.

For the last rotation, Szabo was on bars & Mary Lou was on vault. If Ecaterina scored a 10, the gold was hers. But she scored 9.90, leaving the door open. And you all know what Mary Lou did. She ran down the vaulting runway, scored a perfect 10, and lept into the arms of Bela Karolyi and into the hearts of all America. When the score came up the look on her face was priceless. We screamed, she screamed, and the crowd loved the 10.0. It wasn't until the awards ceremony that they knew what we knew - that Mary Lou had just become America’s first all-around Olympic champion. The hometown girl-next-door had become America’s sweetheart, and we couldn’t be more excited.

The impact of Mary Lou Retton’s Olympic Gold on the sport of gymnastics cannot be measured in dollars. She put our sport on the map, and that fall millions of little girls poured into gyms wearing red, white, & blue leos. I began my coaching career pumped, primed, & ready to inspire little girls to reach for their dreams. After seeing Mary Lou, I knew anything could be done.