Béla Károlyi (; September 13, 1942 – November 15, 2024) was a Romanian and American gymnastics coach of Hungarian origin. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralized training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was
Nadia Comăneci, the first
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
gymnast to be awarded a
perfect score. Living under the dictatorship of
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
, Károlyi frequently clashed with Romanian officials. He and his wife defected to the United States in 1981.
After their arrival in the United States, Béla and his wife
Márta Károlyi were credited with transforming the coaching of gymnastics in the U.S. and bringing major international success. They were each a coach for the
United States women's national gymnastics team, as well as national team coordinators for United States gymnastics at the Olympic Games. They have been severely criticized for their coaching style, which many gymnasts have called abusive. They claim to have been unaware that
Larry Nassar, the national gymnastics team doctor who was convicted of sexual assault of minors, was
assaulting young female gymnasts in their care at their
Karolyi Ranch training facility in the
Sam Houston National Forest in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. ''
Athlete A'', a documentary about the scandal, is a 2020 film which covers the Karolyis and their ranch.
Károlyi coached many notable national, European, Olympic gymnasts as well as those from the
World Gymnastics Championships including
Nadia Comăneci,
Ecaterina Szabo,
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's per ...
,
Julianne McNamara,
Betty Okino,
Teodora Ungureanu,
Kim Zmeskal,
Kristie Phillips,
Dominique Moceanu,
Phoebe Mills, and
Kerri Strug. He coached nine Olympic champions, fifteen world champions, sixteen European medalists, and six U.S. national champions. He was inducted into the
International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997. Béla and Márta Károlyi as a coaching team were inducted into the US Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2000.
Early life, family and education
Károlyi was born in Kolozsvár,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
(now
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...
,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
).
Skilled as an athlete, he became a national junior boxing champion and a member of the Romanian
hammer throw
The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin.
The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...
ing team.
He enrolled at the Romania College of Physical Education, studying and practicing
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
after having had trouble with a mandatory skills test in the sport.
Early coaching career
During his senior year at the college, Károlyi coached the women's gymnastics team, whose star was Márta Erőss. They later started a relationship and married in 1963. They moved to a small town in the coal-mining region where Béla had grown up, where they started a gymnastics class at the town's elementary school. Later the government invited them to create a national school for gymnastics.
Romania's famed centralized training program has its roots in the 1950s; Bela Károlyi helped develop the program further in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He worked as a coach at the boarding school in
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian politician. He was the first Socialist Republic of Romania, Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
(now named
Oneşti), training young girls specially chosen for their athletic potential. One of the first students at the school was six-year-old
Nadia Comăneci, who lived near the town and commuted from home.
Károlyi debuted as an international coach in 1974. He had to persuade the Romanian gymnastics federation to have Comăneci and his other athletes named to the 1975 European Championships and the 1976 Olympic team, because the federation favored athletes from the competing Dinamo club in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
.
At the
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, he was the head coach of the Romanian squad; most of the members of the team were Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej athletes. The team earned the silver medal. Comăneci was one of the outstanding performers of the Games, scoring the first-ever perfect 10 in Olympic competition. Altogether, they won seven medals in Montreal: three gold, two silver, and two bronze. After Comăneci's astounding success in Montreal, Károlyi's importance as a coach was recognized. He was named head coach of the Romanian team at the
1980 Olympics in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
,
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
.
1980s
Romanian Federation officials criticized Károlyi because of his score protests at several international meets, including the 1980 Olympics.
After the 1980 Olympics, Károlyi clashed with Romanian Federation officials, and tension escalated. During a 1981 gymnastics tour, Romanian team choreographer Géza Pozsár and the Károlyis defected and sought political asylum in the US, temporarily leaving their seven-year-old daughter Andrea with relatives in Romania. They settled in Texas.
In 1981, a group of businessmen invited Károlyi to join a gymnastics business venture. He agreed to invest, and the Károlyis moved to
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. When the gym ran into financial problems, Károlyi bought it.
Károlyi's status as "Nadia's coach" quickly attracted gymnasts to his club. Three years after his defection, he attended the
1984 Olympics as the individual coach of
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's per ...
, who won all-around champion and
Julianne McNamara, who won the gold medal for
uneven bars
The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...
.
Olympic rules at the time did not permit a gymnast's personal coach to be present on the competition floor. Only the national coach
Don Peters and his assistant were allowed on the floor. Károlyi obtained a maintenance man's pass so he could be near Retton and McNamara during the competition.
ABC television network commented on this controversy during its broadcasts and often showed Retton and McNamara running over to the stands to speak to Károlyi.
During the 1984 Olympics, Károlyi did not have an official position with the delegation. He slept in his car, and ignored Peters' instructions by holding supplementary workouts for his gymnasts. Károlyi's clout in the United States increased after the victories of his students in 1984, but so did resentment against him. After Retton's success in 1984, Károlyi purchased the
Karolyi Ranch. He was paid by
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
to have their golden arch logo as part of his sleeve design on his outfit. His new gym, run from the ranch, attracted many of the country's top gymnasts.
After the 1984 Olympics,
USGF decided to replace Peters with
Greg Marsden as Olympic coach. Marsden was a college coach with no private students and no financial interest in promoting one gymnast at the expense of another. Marsden said that he "thought some of the concerns the other coaches had about Károlyi were legitimate;" Marsden picked Donna Cozzo as his assistant national coach. Károlyi was furious and had to be dissuaded from boycotting the
1987 Pan American Games
The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...
. He did not attend the meet, complaining that he was not allowed to coach although he was "providing fifty percent of the team".
Károlyi's star gymnast
Kristie Phillips competed in the meet finishing second behind
Sabrina Mar, who trained with former Olympic coach Don Peters at SCATS gym in
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...
.
The United States did not do well in the
1987 World Championships, finishing 6th. After Marsden resigned from his position as national team coach in November 1987, Károlyi lobbied to be appointed national coach, but he was opposed by the other coaches. Don Peters was restored to the position in January 1988. Peters chose Béla's wife Márta Károlyi to serve as assistant national coach. Béla Károlyi told the
United States Gymnastics Federation that he would not attend the
1988 Seoul Olympic Games unless he was the team coach.
At the 1988 Olympic Trials in August, Károlyi's gymnasts earned 5 of the top 8 spots. The five gymnasts were
Phoebe Mills,
Brandy Johnson,
Chelle Stack, and the two team alternates
Rhonda Faehn and Kristie Phillips. Phillips, who had left Károlyi's gym and trained with Peters for a short time following her disappointing performance at the
1987 World Championships, said that Peters workouts were "not half as intense (as Károlyi's)". Phillips told reporters it would hurt the national team if they had to leave Károlyi's gym and train with Peters at SCATS. USGF executive director Mike Jacki said, "The women's coaches are all private businessmen... The more kids you put on the team, the better it is for your business."
Peters resigned as national coach after the trials. After Peters' resignation, the USGF decided against having a national team coach and allowed personal coaches to accompany the gymnasts to competitions.
The U.S. Olympic team finished fourth in Seoul.
East German gymnastic official
Ellen Berger raised a valid objection, since a U.S. team member had violated one of the obscure competition rules. After the springboard had been used at the start of another gymnast's uneven bars routine, the U.S. alternate, Rhonda Faehn, had pulled it away but had stayed on the podium to watch, instead of stepping off again immediately, as required by the rule. Had Faehn stepped off the podium, the US team would have won the bronze medal. Because of this small points deduction, the East German team overtook the American team and won the bronze medal. An incensed Karolyi said the rule was invoked in order to "keep the scores down" because the East German team was "fighting desperately to keep their place". The obscure rule goes on to say that no assistance can be given during a performance. It did not specifically mention athletes on the podium. A jury dominated by
Soviet Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
officials voted to maintain the deduction. Despite the fact that the U.S. team had indeed committed an infraction, he said that application of the scoring penalty was "dirty cheating". A photograph of Karolyi embracing and consoling the disappointed American girls appeared in most U.S. newspapers the following day.
After the 1988 Olympics, Károlyi's sphere of influence continued to grow as did the number of elite gymnasts training in his gym. At one meet in 1990, a journalist dubbed six top Károlyi gymnasts the "Karolyi six-pack." Although the members of the six-pack would change, the name stuck and increased Károlyi's prominence in the sport.
1990s
At the 1991 World Championships, four of the six athletes on the U.S. women's team—
Kim Zmeskal,
Betty Okino,
Hilary Grivich, and
Kerri Strug—were trained by Károlyi; the other two (alternates)
Shannon Miller and
Michelle Campi, were trained by ex-Károlyi club coaches. The situation was nearly repeated at the
1992 Olympics, where Károlyi was head coach and five members of the seven-gymnast squad (six competitors and one alternate) were either trained by him or one of his protégés.
Károlyi primarily was a personal coach for
Dominique Moceanu and
Kerri Strug at the
1996 Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, but he still managed to draw the spotlight. After Strug injured her ankle on her first
vault Károlyi encouraged her, "Shake it off! You can do it!". After Strug's successful final vault, Károlyi carried the injured Strug to the podium to accept her gold medal. The moment was photographed and one of the most memorable from the Olympics.
Károlyi retired from coaching after the 1996 Olympics. He and Márta went to their ranch and gymnastics camp in
New Waverly, Texas.
In 1997, Bela was inducted into the
International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
1999–2000
After the success of the U.S. team, dubbed the "
Magnificent Seven," at the 1996 Olympics, USA Gymnastics experienced a lull. A
new requirement that competitors be at least 16 years old in the calendar year of the competition (up from the previous 15) kept some top gymnasts out of the World Championships in 1997. While American gymnasts did win medals in international competitions such as the
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...
and the
Pacific Alliance Championships, they were largely unsuccessful in most major meets. In both 1997 and 1999, the American team left the World Championships without a single medal.
After the 1999 World Championships, USA Gymnastics tried to revamp its program by hiring Károlyi as national team coordinator. Károlyi required that all national team members attend frequent, grueling camps at his ranch north of Houston. Some observers believed that selection procedures for international meets became more arbitrary. Coaches resented what they felt was Károlyi's intrusion onto their domain, and athletes were under a considerable amount of stress. The tension escalated to the point where gymnasts were openly speaking out against Károlyi. At the
2000 Olympics, the US team originally placed fourth, but the Chinese team had an underage athlete, so the US team was ultimately awarded the bronze in 2010.
In 2001, Marta Károlyi was selected for the national team coordinator position. While she retained some aspects of her husband's program, such as the training camp system, she reduced the frequency of the camps. Her different approach met with more acceptance by both coaches and gymnasts. Between 2001 and 2007, American women won a combined total of 34 medals in World Championship and Olympic competition. Between 2001 and 2016, they won five World Championships team titles (2003, 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2015) and two Olympic team titles (2012, 2016). Additionally, the team won four consecutive Olympic all-arounds (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
,
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
,
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, and
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
), eight World Championships all-arounds (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017), and eighteen individual event World Championships titles.
Later career
Márta Károlyi remained the national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics until 2016. During the 2008 Summer Olympics, Béla Károlyi appeared as a guest commentator for NBC News. He claimed that the Chinese women's gymnastics team was cheating by using athletes who did not meet the minimum age requirement.
He and his wife said, "They are using half-people. One of the biggest frustrations is, what arrogance. These people think we are stupid."
Károlyi said that he disagreed with the age limit. He called for it to be abolished by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
. He said that if a gymnast was good enough to earn a spot at the Olympics or World Championships, he or she deserves to go. He objected to the possibility that they were being used by their government. "They do good gymnastics and are a good service for the sport," he said. "They have the ultimate effective training program. That’s why I am more upset that they are cheating. They don’t need cheating. They would be just as good with a lineup of eligible athletes."
Controversy
Several of Károlyi's athletes from the "six-pack" era have criticized his training methods. Some of his former athletes including
Kristie Phillips,
Dominique Moceanu, and Erica Stokes have publicly said that Károlyi was verbally and psychologically abusive during workouts. Károlyi's constant critical remarks about weight and body type were said to drive some gymnasts to develop
eating disorders
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...
and low self-esteem.
Some gymnasts, such as Phillips, Moceanu, and 1988 Olympian
Chelle Stack also said that they were compelled to continue training and competing even when coping with serious injuries such as broken bones.
In one interview, Moceanu (one of Károlyi's final protégés) said, "I'm sure Béla saw injuries, but if you were injured, Béla didn't want to see it.... You had to deal with it." Károlyi also was said to strictly monitor his gymnasts' food intake: Moceanu, for instance, stated that at meets away from home, gymnasts were limited to consuming as few as 900 calories a day. Even Károlyi's supporters have admitted that at certain competitions, his gymnasts ate so sparingly that members of the men's gymnastics team smuggled food to them in their hotel rooms.
However, many of Károlyi's most prominent gymnasts have vehemently defended him against these allegations. Nadia Comăneci, in her 2004 memoir ''Letters to a Young Gymnast'', remarked that she literally trusted Károlyi with her life. She also stated that in Romania, the gymnasts at Károlyi's school consumed well-balanced diets and, in fact, ate better than most other civilians in the country at the time.
Olympic medalists and Károlyi gymnasts Mary Lou Retton, Phoebe Mills and
Kim Zmeskal among others, have also praised Károlyi and his training regimen.
A number of former Károlyi gymnasts, both supporters and detractors, have acknowledged that some of the allegations about Károlyi were true, but they have also claimed that the ends—medals—justified the means. In Joan Ryan's 1995 ''
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes'', 1992 Olympian
Betty Okino said: "What Béla did worked. He motivated me by getting me mad." Some have claimed that Károlyi stopped treating gymnasts harshly when parents directly requested that he do so.
In a column she wrote rebutting many of the claims of ''Little Girls in Pretty Boxes'', Okino wrote, "Károlyi structured his training in a way that built your physical and mental strength to such a remarkable level that even he couldn't tear you down. Béla wanted to know that when push came to shove, his athletes could handle any situation thrown at them."
In an interview in the edition of December 8, 2007, of the Romanian newspaper ''Evenimentul Zilei'', Adrian Goreac, the coach of the Romanian national gymnastics team from 1981 to 1990, after Károlyi left, spoke of Károlyi's "dictatorial regime" during his time coaching the Romanian gymnastics team.
In November 2008,
Emilia Eberle, a Romanian national team member during the Károlyi coaching era, gave an interview to
KCRA-TV
KCRA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Stockton-licensed dual CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate KQCA (channel 58). The two stations shar ...
in
Sacramento, California
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
, claiming that while she was on the national team, both Béla and Márta Károlyi regularly beat her and her teammates for mistakes they made in practice or competition. "In one word, I can say it was brutal," she told KCRA.
Other Romanian team members including
Ecaterina Szabo and
Rodica Dunca, as well as Géza Pozsár, the team choreographer who defected with the Károlyis, have made similar charges of physical abuse. When asked in 2008 to comment on the allegations, Béla said, "I ignore it. I'm not even commenting. These people are really trash."
Role in sexual abuse scandal
While Károlyi has not been personally implicated in the
USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal which was reported beginning in 2016, gymnasts said that many instances of
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
perpetrated by former team doctor
Larry Nassar occurred at the
Karolyi Ranch. Nassar reportedly groomed athletes for abuse and gained their trust in part by covertly providing them with food in defiance of Károlyi's strict dietary guidelines. Some gymnasts also said that the strict discipline and conditions at the ranch made them feel inhibited from reporting Nassar's abuses. As a result of the scandal, in July 2017
USA Gymnastics canceled its plans to buy Karolyi Ranch. In January 2018 USA Gymnastics announced they were cutting ties with Karolyi Ranch altogether.
Death
Károlyi died on November 15, 2024, at age 82.
Books
*
*
*
*
Television
Béla Károlyi was in the episode "At the Edge of the Worlds", in the ABC Family series ''
Make It or Break It''. He portrayed Coach Sasha Belov's father.
References
Further reading
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External links
*
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*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karolyi, Bela
1942 births
2024 deaths
American gymnastics coaches
American people of Hungarian-Romanian descent
Defectors to the United States
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Olympic coaches for the United States
Romanian defectors
Romanian emigrants to the United States
Romanian gymnastics coaches
Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent
Sportspeople from Cluj-Napoca