Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton battling pneumonia in intensive care

McKenna Kelley, Retton's daughter, appealed for assistance on behalf of her father, claiming that the legend lacks health insurance.

Olympic gold champion Mary Lou Retton has been undergoing treatment for acute pneumonia in an intensive care unit at a hospital, according to the famous American gymnast's children.

Retton's daughter, McKenna Kelley, described the Hall of Fame gymnast as being in critical condition in a post on a crowdfunding website on Tuesday. The condition was confirmed to NBC News by a different daughter.

McKenna Kelley posted the following on the crowdfunding website: "Mary Lou, my wonderful mother, is battling a very uncommon kind of pneumonia for her life. She is incapable of breathing alone. She has now spent more than a week in the ICU."

Retton, 55, was not given any other information, and it was unclear where he was receiving care. She was born in West Virginia and now resides in Houston.

Kelley made a plea for assistance with Retton's hospital bills in the crowd-funding statement, which was linked from her verified Instagram account, noting that she does not have health insurance.

Everything would be very beneficial for my family and my mother, she wrote, "absolutely everything."

Retton won the all-around competition at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles with a perfect score of 10, making her the first American woman to win a gold medal in gymnastics. She also won five medals in total, more than any other athlete that summer. She earned bronze for the uneven bars exercise and silver for the team and vault competitions.

The 1984 Olympic Games were boycotted by the Soviet Union, which had previously dominated the sport.

Retton's achievements, however, earned her a household celebrity and propelled her into broadcast booths for sports commentary, competition shows on television as an actor, and even movie parts. In 1997, Retton was admitted into the Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

She attracted criticism for supporting USA Gymnastics during its involvement in the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal while serving as a board member for the organization after retiring from competitive gymnastics. In 2017, a Senate Judiciary Committee requested testimony from USA Gymnastics; however, the organization declined. Retton instead accompanied USA Gymnastics representatives to a private meeting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein to discuss the group's procedures to protect athletes from sexual abuse.