Former USA Gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, who helped American Mary Lou Retton and Romanian Nadia Comaneci become gold medalists, has died at the age of 82.
USA Gymnastics said that Karolyi died Friday, but the organization did not reveal a cause of death.
Karolyi guided a then-14-year-old Comaneci to gold at the 1976 Games in Montreal, five years before he and his wife defected to the United States. He then turned Retton, who was 16 at the time, into the first American to secure the Olympic all-around title. She accomplished the feat in Los Angeles in 1984.
However, Karolyi often faced criticism for his coaching style, especially when USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar was given a decades-long prison sentence for sexually assaulting hundreds of gymnasts and other athletes.
With Nassar in the spotlight because of his crimes, more than a dozen gymnasts spoke out against Karolyi, claiming that he helped create an oppressive culture that allowed Nassar to get away with his wrongdoings for years.
Both Karolyi and his wife, Martha, who was also a coach, told CNN in 2018 that they did not know what Nassar had been up to, but they still decided to step out of the public eye in the wake of the Nassar trial.
USA Gymnastics eventually stopped sending its athletes to train with the Karolyis.
Karolyi retired from coaching following the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, and he was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.
That didn’t mark the end of Karolyi’s time with the U.S. gymnastics team, though, as he was hired as national team coordinator in 1999. In that role, he helped implement a semi-centralized system into the program that turned Team USA into a powerhouse.
Still, Karolyi didn’t last long as coordinator, getting let go after the 2000 Olympics. His impact is still felt today, however, as women from the United States have won each of the past six Olympic titles.
–Field Level Media
