Mary Lou Retton reveals the disgusting fat-shaming abuse she suffered after her historic 1984 Olympic Gold… despite gymnastic legend weighing just 94 POUNDS

Mary Lou Retton has spoken out about the horrific abuse she endured following her historic 1984 Olympic gold medal.

The 56-year-old Retton became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title at the U.S. Home Games in Los Angeles in 1984.

Her Olympic gold medal, combined with her two silver and two bronze medals, brought her fame not only within the gymnastics world but also internationally.

However, the gymnastics legend has revealed that her rise to sensation status wasn’t easy, admitting that she’s faced some serious fat shaming.

“I was seen as a big girl. I was 4-foot-9 and 94 pounds. A big girl! But that’s what I was seen as,” she said People“I was considered the ‘fat one.’ And I was not fat in any way.”

She added: “It just hurts. It hurts to be called something you’re not.”

“They said, ‘You’re heavy. You’re fat. This is not what gymnastics is supposed to look like.'”

“They used to call me — who’s that guy with the big thighs? Earl Campbell. They said, ‘Mary Lou with Earl Campbell thighs,'” she recalled of being compared to the former football running back. “That wasn’t a compliment.”

Thinking about it now, Retton emphasizes that she is incredibly proud of her body, especially when she looks at the strength and endurance of gymnasts like Simone Biles.

“I’m very, very proud that I started this,” she said. “I did, I started this in 1984. Nobody looked like me.”

Retton won five medals (one gold, two silver and two bronze) at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, four years after he began training with notorious gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi.

Retton, 56, became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title

Retton (far right) is pictured next to her Team USA teammates in 1984

“I was starving,” she admitted, recalling being told to look like her extremely thin Eastern European gymnastics colleagues. “I was considered the fat one.”

Karolyi and his wife Marta, whose Texas ranch was the scene of sexual abuse of many Team USA gymnasts by doctor Larry Nassar, have since been accused of verbal and emotional abuse by several athletes.

“Verbally, we weren’t abusive,” Marta told Dateline NBC in 2018. “Emotionally, it depends on the person. You have to be a strong person to handle the pressure.”

Last year Retton was in intensive care and had to ‘fight for his life’ with a rare form of pneumonia after being rushed to hospital in October.

Earlier this year, she announced that her condition had deteriorated to the point that she had to say goodbye to her four daughters, fearing she would not survive the night.

Retton tops the podium ahead of Romanian gymnasts Ecaterina Szabo and Simona Pauca

The American Olympic gymnast is pictured with her four daughters, Shayla (left), McKenna (top right), Skyla (bottom right) and Emma (center)

That same year, in addition to her gold medal, she also won two silver and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games.

In the months following this ordeal, hundreds of thousands of dollars poured in from concerned fans, leading to an unpleasant situation.

Retton and her family have faced questions about the $459,324 they received in public donations. The former gymnast repeatedly refused to say how the money was spent.

In an interview, daughter McKenna said that after the medical bills are paid, the family “plans to donate any remaining funds to a charity of her mother’s choice.”

Despite her miraculous recovery, Retton will not travel to Paris for the Olympic Games this year as she prepares to become a grandmother for the first time.