Bela Karolyi, a controversial figure in the world of gymnastics, has trained a plethora of Olympic superstars, from Nadia Comaneci to Mary Lou Retton. Karolyi died at the age of 82 on5, 2024. Over the course of his career,

Bela Karolyi, the legendary and controversial Romanian American gymnastics coach who helped lead Mary Lou Retton, Nadia Comaneci and Kerri Strug to Olympic gold, has died, USA Gymnastics announced. He was 82.

Bela Karolyi and his wife Martha defected to the U.S. in 1981, and over the next 30-plus years, became a guiding force in American gymnastics, though not without controversy.