Missed Olympics- Mary Lou Retton Vol. 2

Missed Olympics- 1984 Olympics and Mary Lou Retton

http://karolyiscamps.com

 1984 Olympics and Mary Lou Retton

I remember watching the 1984 Olympics when Mary Lou Retton won the Gold Medal wondering if I could ever do the same in Race Walking.  My father wanted me to have a dream.  He took me one day to meet Mary Lou Retton and her coach, Bela Karolyi.

 I would practice by my self on the Jr. High track after school in the evenings and on weekends during the summer and I participated in track during the school year.  Competing in every local race walking event that was possible.

 I even met with  a coach from the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs the summer of my 8th grade year.  My father took me to meet with him.  I do not remember the man’s name but he was very nice.  I believe he was one of the coaches for the wrestling  there.  He took my father and me on a tour of the training center and mentioned that even though the U.S. at the time did not have an official Race Walking coach, as long as I continued to hold a U.S. ranking that I could live at and use the resources in the Training Center.  I was 15.

 Living in Denver I may have traveled to Colorado Springs on a regular basis to take advantage of the offer but just before my ninth grade began my family moved away from Denver to a small, rural, farming town in support of my fathers employment. I was not happy about the move and I wrote a very angry letter to my father.  At 15 I felt my whole family should accommodate me and my wishes.

My mother had very good foresight, even though I did not think so at the time, she refused to allow me to live at the Olympic Training Center by myself while my family was going to be over three hours away.  Funny thing is, there were wonderful experiences that I was able to have because of that move that I do not know if I ever would have had other wise.  


As a side note.  My father in his wisdom kept the letter I wrote and showed it to me a few years ago.  Needles to say we both had a very good laugh.