People

By Guy D. Garcia

Her immediate plans include studying English at the University of Texas and cheering for her football-player boyfriend this week at the annual Longhorns- Oklahoma Sooners game. Pretty quotidian for a girl whose spectacular flips and splits won her four perfect 10s and a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, right? Not at all, said Mary Lou Retton, 18, as she announced her retirement from full-time gymnastics last week. She wants to "mix with kids my own age" and "get on with my life," albeit at a pace that might exhaust less energetic souls. In addition to taking courses, the 4-ft. 9-in. sprite will continue her commercial endorsements and hopes to be an NBC commentator at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. "I had to stop my real education in the tenth grade," says Retton of her decision. She didn't want to look back later and "wish I went to college." Her first English paper was on her coach Bela Karolyi. "It was supposed to be descriptive, and I know him very well," explains Retton. "I got good comments on it." That doesn't sound like a 10, but close enough.