The Károlyis' daughter, Andrea, was the nutritionist for the team.Īt the 2012 Olympics, after Aly Raisman was given a score of 14.966 in the balance beam final, which put her a tenth of a point behind Cătălina Ponor of Romania, Károlyi requested a video review. Among her duties were selecting athletes for competitions, determining apparatus lineups at the meets, and making recommendations about skills and routine compositions. It has also yielded impressive competitive results: Between 20, American women won a combined total of 44 medals in World Championship and Olympic competition.Īs coordinator, Márta oversaw all aspects of the women's national team. While she maintained some aspects of Béla's original program, her approach has been different, and generally more acceptable to the gymnasts and their coaches. national team coaches, the position was handed over to Márta. In 2001, on the recommendation of the U.S. His approach was protested and resisted by both the national-team gymnasts and their coaches, who, by the 2000 Olympics, were so frustrated and unhappy that they spoke about the situation publicly. However, three years later, Béla returned to the public eye when he was named the national team coordinator for the U.S. National Team CoordinatorĪfter the 1996 Olympics, the Károlyis retired from coaching. In 1996, Márta was chosen as the head coach of the U.S. Béla accompanied the gymnasts to meets and was a highly visible presence to both the gymnastics community and the media Márta remained in the background. In the Károlyi coaching team, Béla was often known as the 'motivator,' while Márta was the 'technician,' applying her gymnastics savvy to help her athletes learn and perfect their technique, mechanics, and form. Márta Károlyi has avoided most of the controversy and accusations of abusive coaching that have trailed her husband, opting for a quieter, less abrasive approach. At the 1991 World Championships, every single gymnast on the American squad was either a Károlyi athlete or trained by a former Károlyi club coach. By 1990, Károlyi gymnasts were so dominant at national United States meets that journalists dubbed the top cluster of athletes the 'Károlyi six-pack'.

Béla's status as 'Nadia's coach' quickly attracted gymnasts to the club, and by the late 1980s, the Károlyi gym had become the preeminent training facility in the United States.

1980s and 1990sĪfter their defection, the Károlyis established a gym in Houston, Texas. The couple's daughter, Andrea, joined them later. They were granted asylum and settled in Oklahoma. In 1981, the Károlyis, along with fellow Hungarian-Romanian team choreographer Géza Pozsár, defected during a gymnastics tour in the United States. While Béla became a highly visible figure in Romanian gymnastics, accompanying the team to major competitions and often clashing with officials in the sport, Márta remained in the background, coaching and choreographing routines for some of the team's gymnasts.

Marta karolyi gymnastics