Bela Karolyi, coach who developed USA Gymnastics into world force, dies at 82

Bela Karolyi, one of the United States’ most eminent gymnastics coaches alongside wife Márta, has died at age 82, a spokesperson for USA Gymnastics said Saturday evening.

Jill Geer, a spokesperson for the organization, the nation’s governing body for the sport, confirmed his death in an email. A cause of death was not provided.

Bela Karolyi helped build USA Gymnastics into an Olympics and international competition powerhouse starting in the 1980s and extending through the 2010s, when his wife had taken over many of his leadership duties.

After success with Nadia Comăneci in Romania, the couple helped to launch the athletic careers of U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame inductees Dominique Dawes, Phoebe Mills, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, Mary Lou Retton, and Kim Zmeskal.

They found early fame in Retton, the first American woman to win an Olympic individual all-round gold, which she accomplished at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Retton was a fan of Comăneci, and found herself embedded in the program of the Karolyis in Houston in the early 1980s. She has said she didn’t expect much from the experience she otherwise cherished.

In an interview with USA Gymnastics in 2016, Retton described her first American Cup competition under the Karolyis.

“I figured I’m just going to sit in the stands at Madison Square Garden and just shoot the breeze,” she said. “It would be a learning experience for me because I had never been up against the Russians and the top girls in the world. I had nothing to lose, literally. … The night before Bela said ‘Mary Lou, this is your chance’. And in typical Bela fashion: ‘Don’t let me down.’”

The Karolyis defected from Romania, a gymnastics powerhouse, during a U.S. exhibition tour for the sport in 1981 as their homeland experienced economic decline amid the cold war, according to USA Gymnastics.

They settled in Oklahoma before moving to Houston to set up a gym that became a magnet for American women hoping to compete on the world stage.

Bela eventually served as national team coordinator before stepping down in 2001. Márta, 82, took over the role until her retirement in 2016, giving the couple a historic span of influence that included Márta’s work with Simone Biles.

Comăneci said on Instagram that Bela Karolyi was a “big impact and influence in my life.”

Included with the statement was a black-and-white photo of the two walking when the five-time Olympics gold medalist was a young girl.