Mary Lou Retton New Face, Voice of Mon General Hospital

Mon General Hospital is very excited to introduce Mary Lou Retton as its official spokesperson. As a native and current resident of North Central West Virginia, Mary Lou represents everything that Mon General Hospital is dedicated to be.

Mary Lou Retton, a Fairmont native and one of the most recognized sports figures in West Virginia and throughout the nation, is the new face of Mon General Hospital.

“Mary Lou and her family have used Mon General Hospital’s services in the past and have been very happy with the care they received,” said Mon Health System President and CEO Darryl Duncan. “With Mary Lou’s recognition throughout the state and nation, we felt that she could help us spread the word about the excellent care and services offered by Mon General Hospital.

“With her gold medal performance in the 1984 Olympics, Mary Lou captured the heart of America,” Duncan said. “We like to think of Mon General as a gold medal hospital, in that we are consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the country in patient satisfaction. We are known for our quality patient outcomes, and that pursuit of excellence will always be our gold standard here as well.”

“Since her retirement from gymnastics, Mary Lou has been an advocate for health, traveling the world promoting nutrition, exercise and good health habits,” Duncan said. “It’s only natural that we bring West Virginia’s gold medal gymnast to the area’s award winning hospital as our new spokesperson.”

In April, Mary Lou spent a day at Mon General filming a series of television commercials. These commercials will begin airing in June. In addition, she will be featured in a variety of radio and print advertisements.

“All greatness is born somewhere,” Retton states in one of the commercials. “Exceptional people can be found in any small town or big city. At Mon General, we bring the best support team and doctors together and that means better outcomes for our patients and a better life for all of us.”

To this day, Mary Lou Retton, remains the only American to ever win the Olympic Gymnastics All Around Title. During the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she scored a perfect 10 in her last event, the vault, to win the gold.

In addition to the gold, she won individual silver medals for Team and Vault and bronze medals for the uneven bars and floor exercise. Her five medals were the most won by any athlete at the 1984 Olympics.

Other victories include being the only woman to win three American Cups (1983-85), the only American to win Japan’s prestigious Chunichi Cup (1983), two U.S. Gymnastics Federation American Classics (1983-84), and the All Around title at both the 1984 National Championships and Olympic Trials. She retired from competitive gymnastics in 1986.

A national sports survey in 1993 found Mary Lou to be the most popular athlete in America. She continues to be in great demand as a motivational speaker and and also travels the world as a ‘Fitness Ambassador.’

She currently resides in Fairmont with her husband and four daughters.