'You Just Cannot Teach the Talent ' (Exclusive): Mary Lou Retton Is a Huge Simone Biles Fan

When Simone Biles takes to the mat at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, one former gymnastics champion will be rooting for her to go all the way.

"Simone Biles is a super freak," Mary Lou Retton says with a laugh. She, of course, means it as a compliment in the best way. "You just cannot teach the talent that child has," the sports icon explains to PEOPLE.

With 37 combined medals from the Olympics and World Championships, Biles, 27, is now considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. She is also the most decorated gymnast in history — male or female — and is expected to add more hardware to her collection when she starts competing in Paris on Sunday, July 28.

Retton, now 56, says when she meets people who don't know who she is, she tells them, "Google Simone Biles. I was like that."

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Retton was just 16 when she became the first American female gymnast to win gold in the all-around at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She recalls that she knew she'd probably win when she came off the vault with a perfect 10.

“I was smiling before my feet touched the floor,” she says of knowing she'd aced her landing at the L.A. arena, where the men's and women's gymnastics events were completed. “The Pauley Pavilion was shaking,” she says. “They were all shouting, ‘Ten! Ten! Ten!’ ”

But despite her big win and becoming a national sensation, Retton chose to quit the sport two years later, noting that training with troubled coach Bela Karolyi was difficult. "He was tough," she says now.  -

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4;All I wanted to do was win something at the Olympics and I went and won the whole thing."

Biles has also notably taken a break from the sport, going on hiatus after the 2021 Olympics to focus on her mental health.

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On Instagram in 2023, Biles says she treats her mental health seriously. “Lots of therapy, I go once a week for almost 2 hrs,” she shared. “I’ve had so much trauma, so being able to work on some of the traumas & work on healing is a blessing.”

Retton says she and Biles also have something else in common, other than being well-regarded champions: physical strength.

"That's one of the very few things I'm proud about," Retton says, adding that before she came along most gymnasts were tiny and skinny, but she was muscular.

"They called me the fat one," she says sadly. "I was 4'9" and 94 pounds... I was starved. But I changed that look."

She hopes that Biles — or any athlete — never gets body-shamed for being strong and muscular. "It hurt," she admits of being considered "big."

Regardless, Retton knows who she'll be pulling for this summer. "Simone Biles...she is so insanely good."

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. And sign up for Going for Gold, our Olympics newsletter, to get the biggest stories from the Games delivered straight to your inbox. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, beginning July 26, on NBC and Peacock.

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