Bela Karolyi, legendary and controversial gymnastics coach, dies at 82

Bela Karolyi, a renowned coach who rose to international fame for coaching several prolific gymnasts and later faced criticism over his training techniques, died Friday. He was 82 years old.

His death was announced by USA Gymnastics, which inducted Karolyi and his wife, Marta, into the Hall of Fame as a coaching team in 2000.

He and his wife were credited with producing 28 Olympians, nine Olympic champions, six U.S. national champions and 15 world champions, according to USA Gymnastics.

Born Sept. 13, 1942, in what is today Romania, Karolyi coached the women’s gymnastics team while a senior at Romania College of Physical Education, according to a 2008 profile in the Rocky Mountain News.

A few years later, he and Marta started a gymnastics school to train young girls in the sport. One of his earliest pupils, Nadia Comaneci, at 14 years old was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10, which happened at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Under his mentorship, Comaneci became a five-time Olympic gold medalist.

In 1981, amid tension with Romanian officials during an exhibition tour, he and Marta defected to the U.S.

They opened a private gymnastics club in Houston and would help catapult several American gymnasts to the national and international stage, including Mary Lou Retton, Kerri Strug and Julianne McNamara.

He received several accolades, including an induction into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997. Karolyi was also coordinator of the U.S. Women’s National Team from Nov. 1999 to Jan. 2001.

But his success was also clouded in controversy. Karolyi was criticized over his harsh training of athletes by some gymnasts, including U.S. gymnast Dominique Moceanu, who previously told NPR the Karolyis “set the precedent of yelling and demeaning the athletes and embarrassing them.”

He and his wife’s Karolyi Ranch in Texas, where Olympic gymnasts trained, became the central focus of sexual assault cases against former U.S. gymnastics trainer Larry Nassar. The Karolyis denied knowing about any abuse at the ranch.

Several of Karolyi’s mentees, including Moceanu, remembered the coach. 

“He was a complex individual, embodying a mix of strengths and flaws that left a lasting impact on those around him,” Moceanu wrote in a social media post. “His harsh words and critical demeanor often weighed heavily on me. While our relationship was fraught with difficulty, some of these moments of hardship helped me forge and define my own path.”

She continued, “As we bid farewell to Bela, I choose to send loving thoughts to his family and loved ones, and honor our relationship by embracing lessons learned and striving to help create a world where compassion and encouragement guide our actions. May he rest in peace.”