Béla Károlyi

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Béla Károlyi (born September 13, 1942 in Cluj, Romania), is a world-renowned Romanian gymnastics coach of Hungarian ethnicity. He posseses Romanian and American citizenship. Together with his wife, Marta, (sometimes called Martha), Károlyi has coached both the United States and Romanian Olympic teams to medal success.

Károlyi pioneered the Romanian centralized gymnastics training system in Romania in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He established a boarding school in Oneşti, training young girls specially chosen for their athletic potential. One of the first students at Károlyi's school was six year old Nadia Comaneci, who lived near Oneşti and commuted from home.

Károlyi debuted as an international coach in 1974. At the 1976 Olympics he was Head Coach of the Romanian squad. Most of the members of the team were Oneşti athletes.

Following Nadia Comaneci'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. However, after the Olympics, Károlyi again clashed with Romanian Federation officials. Tension escalated, and during a 1981 gymnastics tour, Béla, Marta, and Romanian team choreographer Geza Pozar defected and sought political asylum in the United States. They settled in Oklahoma. Károlyi and his training methods are discussed heavily in the book "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" by Joan Ryan (Warner Books, 1996)

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[edit] The six-pack

In 1981, a group of businessmen invited Károlyi to join a gymnastics business venture. He decided to invest in the business and the Károlyis relocated to Houston, Texas. The gym ran into financial problems, and Károlyi ended up buying it.

Károlyi's status as "Nadia's coach" quickly attracted gymnasts to his club. Only three years after his defection, in 1984, Károlyi was back at the Olympics as the individual coach of all-around champion Mary Lou Retton and uneven bars gold medalist Julianne McNamara.

Károlyi's clout in America grew after 1984, and by the time of the 1988 Olympics, he was influential enough to be made head coach of the women's team. Károlyi was also the personal coach of three athletes on the squad: balance beam bronze medalist Phoebe Mills, the only female US gymnast to medal in Seoul; Chelle Stack and Brandy Johnson.

After the 1988 Olympics, Károlyi's sphere of influence continued to grow, as did the number of elites training in his gym. At one meet in 1989, a journalist dubbed six top Károlyi gymnasts the "six-pack." Although the members of the six-pack would change, the name stuck and increased Károlyi's prominence in the sport. At the 1991 World Championships, an astounding four of the six athletes on the US women's team were trained by Károlyi; the other two were trained by ex-Károlyi club coaches. The situation was almost repeated at the 1992 Olympics, where Károlyi was head coach and five of the seven athletes (six competitors and one alternate) were either trained by him or one of his proteges.

Károlyi mostly acted as a personal coach for his athletes Dominique Moceanu and Kerri Strug at the 1996 Olympics, but still managed to draw the spotlight. After Strug was injured during the US team's final rotation on vault, Károlyi carried her to the podium to accept her gold medal. The moment was photographed and widely distributed, and became what was arguably among the most enduring memories of the 1996 Olympics.

Károlyi retired from coaching after the 1996 Olympics. He and Marta still have a ranch and gymnastics camp in Houston.

Among the gymnasts Béla and Martha Károlyi have trained are Mary Lou Retton, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, Teodora Ungureanu, Nadia Comaneci, Kim Zmeskal, Kristie Phillips and Dominique Moceanu. In total, Károlyi has coached nine Olympic champions, fifteen world champions, sixteen European medalists and six U.S. national champions.

In 1997 Béla Károlyi was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[1]

[edit] 1999-2000

Following the success of the "Magnificent Seven" at the 1996 Olympics, USA Gymnastics experienced a lull. A new age limit kept some of their top gymnasts out of the World Championships in 1997. While American gymnasts did medal in international competitions such as the Goodwill Games and the Pacific Alliance, they were largely unsuccessful in most major meets. In both 1997 and 1999, the American team left the World Championships without a single medal.

The US finished sixth of 39 teams at the 1999 Worlds. USA Gymnastics attempted to revamp their program by hiring Károlyi to serve as National Team Coordinator. Károlyi required that all national team members attend frequent grueling camps at his ranch near Houston and selection procedures for international meets became more arbitrary. Coaches resented what they felt was Károlyi's intrusion onto their domain; athletes were under a considerable amount of stress. At the 2000 Olympics, where the US team once again came away without a single medal, the tension had escalated to the point where gymnasts were openly speaking out against Károlyi to the media.

In 2001, the National Team Coordinator position was handed over to Károlyi's wife, Marta. While Marta has retained some aspects of Béla's program, such as the training camp system (although camps are less frequent now), her approach appears to be different, and more acceptable to both coaches and gymnasts. It has also yielded more impressive competitive results: between 2001 and 2005, American women won a combined total of twenty-four medals in World Championship and Olympic competition.

[edit] Controversy

Károlyi's career as a coach has been saddled by controversy.

While still in Romania, Károlyi came under fire from Romanian officials due to his score protests and conduct at several international meets, including the 1980 Olympics. His school in Oneşti was originally shunned in favor of Bucharest's Dinamo club; Károlyi had to battle the Romanian gymnastics federation to get Nadia Comaneci and his other athletes named to the 1975 European Championships and the 1976 Olympic team.

In America, Károlyi's training methods have been roundly criticized. Some of his former athletes, including Kristie Phillips and Erica Stokes, have stated publicly 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 and low self-esteem. At meets away from home, Károlyi was reputed to limit his gymnasts' caloric intake to as little as 900 calories a day. Even Károlyi 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 Comaneci, in her 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 of the other civilians in the country at the time. Olympic medalists and Károlyi gymnasts Mary Lou Retton, Phoebe Mills, Dominique Moceanu and Kim Zmeskal, among others, have also praised Károlyi and his training regimen.

A third group of gymnasts have admitted that some of the allegations about Károlyi were true, but have also claimed that the ends—medals—justified the means. In Joan Ryan's Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, 1992 Olympian Betty Okino stated, "What Béla did worked. He motivated me by getting me mad." Some have claimed that Károlyi stopped treating gymnasts harshly when he was directly requested to do so by parents.

During March 2007 Bela Karolyi and wife Martha got “The Platinum Cactus Award” from a popular website about Romanian gymnastics. Their names were also included on the "Wall of Shame"-the list of Romanian Gymnastics abusive coaches.

[edit] See also

Marta Károlyi

[edit] Reference

  1. ^ BELA KAROLYI. International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Retrieved on April 1, 2006.

[edit] External links and resources

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