Bela Karolyi, controversial Olympic gymnasts coach, dies at 82

Bela Karolyi, the charismatic if polarizing gymnastics manager who turned young women into champions and the United States into an planetary powerfulness successful the sport, has died. He was 82.

USA Gymnastics said Karolyi died Friday. No origin of decease was given.

Karolyi and wife, Martha, trained aggregate Olympic golden medalists and satellite champions successful the U.S. and Romania, including Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton.

"A large interaction and power connected my life," Comaneci, who was conscionable 14 erstwhile Karolyi coached her to golden for Romania astatine the 1976 Montreal Olympics, posted connected Instagram.

Yet Karolyi's strident methods sometimes came nether fire, astir pointedly during the tallness of the Larry Nassar scandal.

When the disgraced erstwhile USA Gymnastics squad doc was efficaciously fixed a beingness condemnation aft pleading blameworthy to sexually assaulting gymnasts and different athletes with his hands nether the guise of aesculapian treatment, implicit a twelve erstwhile gymnasts came guardant saying the Karolyis were portion of a strategy that created an oppressive civilization that allowed Nassar's behaviour to tally unchecked for years.

While the Karolyis denied work — telling CNN successful 2018 they were unaware of Nassar's behaviour — the revelations led to them receding from the spotlight. USA Gymnastics yet exited an statement to proceed to bid astatine the Karolyi Ranch northbound of Houston, though lone aft American prima Simone Biles took the enactment to task for having them bid astatine a tract wherever galore experienced intersexual abuse.

The Karolyis receded from the spotlight successful the aftermath aft spending 30-plus years arsenic a guiding unit successful American gymnastics, often basking successful occurrence portion brushing with contention successful adjacent measure.

The Karolyis defected from Romania to the United States successful 1981. Three years aboriginal Bela helped usher Retton — each of 16 — to the Olympic all-around rubric astatine the 1984 Games successful Los Angeles. At the 1996 Games successful Atlanta, helium memorably helped an injured Kerri Strug disconnected the level aft Strug's vault secured the squad golden for the Americans.

Karolyi concisely became the nationalist squad coordinator for USA Gymnastics women's elite programme successful 1999 and incorporated a semi-centralized strategy that yet turned the Americans into the sport's golden standard. It did not travel without a cost. He was removed from the presumption aft the 2000 Olympics erstwhile it became evident his enactment benignant simply would not work, though helium remained astir the athletics aft Martha took implicit for her hubby successful 2001.

While the Karolyis attack helped the U.S. go a superpower — an American pistillate has won each of the past six Olympic titles and the U.S. women earned the squad golden astatine the 2012 and 2016 games nether Martha Karolyi's enactment — their methods came nether fire.

Dominique Moceanu, portion of the "Magnificent 7" squad that won golden successful Atlanta, talked extensively astir her corrosive narration with the Karolyis pursuing her retirement. In her 2012 memoir, Moceanu wrote Bela Karolyi verbally abused her successful beforehand of her teammates connected aggregate occasions.

"His harsh words and captious demeanor often weighed heavy connected me," Moceanu posted connected X Saturday. "While our narration was fraught with difficulty, immoderate of these moments of hardship helped maine forge and specify my ain path."

Some of Karolyi's astir celebrated students were ever among his staunchest defenders. When Strug got married, she and Karolyi took a photograph recreating their celebrated country from the 1996 Olympics, erstwhile helium carried her onto the medals podium aft she vaulted connected a severely sprained ankle.

Being a gymnastics pied piper was ne'er Karolyi's intent. Born successful Clug, Hungary, (now Romania) connected September 13, 1942, helium wanted to beryllium a teacher, getting into coaching successful assemblage simply truthful helium could walk much clip with Martha.

After graduating, the mates moved to a tiny coal-mining municipality successful Transylvania. Looking for a mode to support their students lukewarm and entertained during the long, harsh winters, Karolyi dragged retired immoderate aged mats and helium and his woman taught the children gymnastics.

The students showed disconnected their skills to their parents, and the exhibitions soon caught the oculus of the Romanian government, which hired the Karolyis to manager the women's nationalist squad astatine a clip erstwhile the athletics was done astir exclusively by big women, not young girls.

Karolyi changed each that, though, bringing a squad to the Montreal Olympics with lone 1 gymnast older than 14.

It was successful Montreal, of course, wherever the satellite got its archetypal existent glimpse of Karolyi. When a solemn, dark-haired sprite named Nadia Comaneci enchanted the satellite with the archetypal cleanable 10 successful Olympic history, a feat she would duplicate six times, Karolyi was determination to wrapper her successful 1 of his trademark carnivore hugs.

Romania, which had won lone 3 bronzes successful Olympic gymnastics earlier 1976, near Montreal with 7 medals, including Comaneci's golds successful the all-around, equilibrium beam and uneven bars, and the squad silver. Comaneci became an planetary sensation, the archetypal idiosyncratic to look connected the covers of Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek successful the aforesaid week.

Four years later, however, Karolyi was successful disgrace.

He was incensed by the judging astatine the Moscow Olympics, which helium thought outgo Comaneci a 2nd all-around gold, and the Romanian authorities was horrified that helium had embarrassed the Soviet hosts.

"Suddenly, from a presumption wherever we've been praised and considered the foremost athletes successful the country, I was stigmatized," helium erstwhile said. "I thought they could enactment maine distant for governmental misconduct."

When helium and Martha took the Romanian squad to New York for an accumulation successful March 1981, they were tipped disconnected that they were going to beryllium punished upon their return. Despite not speaking immoderate English and with their then-6-year-old daughter, Andrea, inactive successful Romania, they decided to defect.

"We knew what benignant of risks we were taking, due to the fact that cipher was guaranteeing america anything," Martha Karolyi erstwhile said. "We started retired with a suitcase and a small motel room. From there, it's gradually improved."

The mates made their mode to California, wherever they learned English by watching tv and Bela did unusual jobs. A accidental brushwood with Olympic golden medalist Bart Conner — who would aboriginal wed Comaneci — astatine the Los Angeles airdrome a fewer months aboriginal led to the Karolyis' archetypal coaching occupation successful the United States.

Within a year, their girl had arrived successful the U.S. and the Karolyis had their ain gym successful Houston. It soon became the halfway of American gymnastics, turning retired 8 nationalist champions successful 13 years.

Three years aft the Karolyis near Romania, Retton became the archetypal American to triumph the Olympic all-around title, scoring a cleanable 10 connected vault to assertion golden astatine the 1984 Games successful Los Angeles. Retton besides posted the highest people successful the squad contention arsenic the Americans won the silver, their archetypal squad medal since 1948.

Four years later, Phoebe Mills, different Karolyi gymnast, won a bronze connected equilibrium beam. It was the archetypal idiosyncratic medal for an American pistillate astatine a non-boycotted games. And successful 1991, Kim Zmeskal — "the small Kimbo," arsenic Bela Karolyi called her — became the archetypal American to triumph the satellite all-around title.

"My biggest publication was giving the kids the religion that they tin beryllium the champion among the best," Karolyi erstwhile said. "I knew that if the Americans could recognize they were not inferior ... past they tin beryllium groomed similar international, highly disposable athletes."

But arsenic Karolyi's resume grew, truthful did the criticism.

Other coaches were irritated by his brash property and quality to ever find his mode into the spotlight. When Retton won gold, Karolyi leaped a obstruction — helium had an instrumentality manager's credential, not a coach's — truthful helium could scoop Retton up successful a hug — close successful beforehand of the TV cameras, of course.

He could beryllium a harsh taskmaster, calling his gymnasts names, taunting them for their value and pushing them to their limits.

Even those lukewarm embraces weren't ever rather what they seemed.

"A batch of those large carnivore hugs came with the susurration of 'Not truthful good,' successful our ears," Retton wrote.

Yet Retton and Comaneci remained adjacent with Karolyi, making appearances with him astatine gymnastics events oregon sitting with him astatine competitions. Zmeskal had her wedding astatine the Karolyi ranch.

Karolyi concisely retired aft the 1992 Games successful Barcelona, wherever helium led the Americans to their archetypal squad medal, a bronze, astatine a non-boycotted Olympics successful 44 years. But helium kept his gym and summertime camps, and by 1994 was again coaching elite-level gymnasts aft Zmeskal asked him to assistance successful her effort to marque the Atlanta Games.

Zmeskal didn't marque the Atlanta squad. But 2 of Karolyi's different gymnasts, Strug and Moceanu, did, and it was Strug who provided 1 of the signature moments of the Olympics.

The Americans went into their last lawsuit successful squad finals, vault, trying to clasp disconnected Russia for their first-ever rubric astatine an Olympics oregon satellite championships. Despite injuring her near ankle erstwhile she fell connected her archetypal vault attempt, Strug went up with her 2nd attempt, believing — wrongly — the Americans needed her people to clinch the gold.

With Karolyi shouting, "You tin bash it!" Strug sprinted down the runway, soared precocious supra the vault and landed connected some feet — ensuring it was a cleanable vault — earlier pulling her near limb up. After saluting the judges, she fell to her knees and had to beryllium carried disconnected the podium. Tests would aboriginal amusement she had 2 torn ligaments successful her ankle.

As the remainder of the Americans gathered connected the podium to person their golden medals, Karolyi carried Strug backmost into the arena, cradling her successful his arms.

But adjacent that drew criticism. Many said Karolyi ne'er should person encouraged Strug to vault connected her injured ankle successful the archetypal spot and past should person stayed retired of the spotlight alternatively than carrying her to the podium.

"Bela is simply a precise pugnacious manager and helium gets disapproval for that," Strug said astatine the time. "But that's what it takes to go a champion. I don't deliberation it's truly close that everyone tries to find the faults of Bela. Anything successful life, to beryllium successful, you've got to enactment truly hard."

The Karolyis retired again aft the Atlanta Olympics. But aft the U.S. women finished past successful the medal circular astatine the 1997 satellite championships, USA Gymnastics asked Bela Karolyi to travel back.

He agreed — but lone if helium could instrumentality a semi-centralized grooming system. Rather than a patchwork strategy of idiosyncratic coaches who had their ain philosophies, Karolyi would oversee the full U.S. program. Gymnasts could inactive bid with their ain coaches, but determination would beryllium regular nationalist squad camps to guarantee they were gathering established grooming and show standards.

Though the thought was sound, Karolyi was not the close idiosyncratic to beryllium successful charge. Coaches who had been his adjacent chafed astatine his heavy-handedness, and were annoyed by his grandstanding. Gymnasts resented his bluster and demands.

By the clip the Americans near the Sydney Olympics, astir the lone happening everyone agreed connected was that Karolyi needed to measurement away.

He stepped speech and was replaced by his wife. Martha Karolyi's standards were conscionable arsenic precocious — if not higher — than her husband's, but connected the surface, she was much consenting to perceive to different opinions.

"She's much diplomatic. Absolutely," Bela Karolyi said earlier the 2012 Olympics. "I'm wild. The opposite."