Legendary US gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi dead at 82

Bela Karolyi, the hugely successful US gymnastics coach, died Friday at 82. Karolyi is remembered as the driving force behind America’s gold-winning female Olympic teams and as the man who some claim may have driven young women athletes too hard, The New York Post reported.

Karolyi and wife Martha successfully trained women gymnasts first in his native Romania and then in the United States after the two defected and brought their winning formula to America. His pupils include gymnast Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton. “A big impact and influence on my life,” said Comaneci on Instagram. She was the star of female gymnastics at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Karolyi was the guiding star for Retton who dominated the gymnastic floor eight years later at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. He is also remembered for assisting Kerri Strug to get off the floor after her vault won the team gold for the USA. Karolyi was named the national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics women’s elite program in 1999 but was removed after the 2000 Olympics when his training system was subject to intense criticism by some athletes.

When USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting athletes under the guise of medical attention, some former gymnasts said Karolyi and his wife were responsible for a training system that allowed someone like Nassar to operate undetected. The DOJ reached a $138.7 million settlement earlier this year with Nassar’s victims.

But Karolyi’s greatest success stories always remained his most stalwart supporters. Strug invited Karolyi to her wedding, where the two reenacted the coach lifting the gymnast off of the floor and onto the medals podium after Strug had just vaulted on a severely injured ankle.