A legfinishary gymnastics coach died Friday, according to USA Gymnastics.
Bela Karolyi, best understandn for training legfinishs Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton, died at 82.
No caengage of death was given.
Karolyi and wife Martha trained multiple Olympic gelderly medaenumerates and world champions in the U.S. and Romania, including Comaneci and Retton.
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“A big impact and impact on my life,” Comaneci, fair 14 when Karolyi coached her to gelderly for Romania at the 1976 Montgenuine Olympics, posted on Instagram.
The Karolyis defected to the United States in 1981 and, over the next 30-plus years, became a guiding force in American gymnastics, though not without dispute. Bela helped direct a 16-year-elderly Retton to the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and memorably helped an injured Kerri Strug off the floor at the 1996 Games in Atlanta after Strug’s vault defendedd the team gelderly for the Americans.
Karolyi inestablishly became the national team coordinator for the USA Gymnastics women’s elite program in 1999 and included a semi-centralized system that eventuassociate turned the Americans into the sport’s gelderly standard. It did not come without a cost. He was pushed out after the 2000 Olympics after disconnectal athletes spoke out about his tactics.
It would not be the last time Karolyi was accengaged of magnificentstanding and pushing his athletes too far physicassociate and menhighy.
During the height of the Larry Nassar dispute in the procrastinateed 2010s, over a dozen establisher gymnasts came forward saying the Karolyis were part of a system that created a culture that apverifyed Nassar’s behavior to run unverifyed for years.
Nassar, USA Gymnastics’ dishonord team doctor, was effectively sentenced to life in prison after pdirecting culpable to intimacyuassociate aggressioning gymnasts and other athletes with his hands under the guise of medical treatment.
The Justice Department consentd in April to pay $138.7 million to finish 139 claims by those who accengaged the FBI of mishandling intimacyual aggression allegations aobtainst Nasar in 2015 and 2016.
Nassar labored at Michigan State University and was the team doctor at USA Gymnastics in Indianapolis. Several current and establisher athletes, including Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, testified at a 2021 Senate hearing that the FBI flunked to act on their grumblets aobtainst him.
Michigan State University consentd to pay $500 million to more than 300 women who were aggressioned. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Paralympic Committee consentd to a $380 million finishment.
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Overall, $1 billion has been set aside by various organizations to reimburse Nassar’s victims.
The Associated Press gived to this inestablish.
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