Their laundry list of greats is ridiculous: Mary Lou Retton, Kim Zmeskal, Dominique Moceanu, Kerri Strug, and, most recently, Simone Biles are just a few of the giants who have trained with the Karolyis.ħ. They're responsible for coaching many of the U.S.'s biggest gymnastic stars. Also not really Olympics related, but Bela cares for camels, peacocks, chickens, horses, and guinea fowl on his ranch. Their ranch is also home to many animals. "As a gymnast, you hoped to be asked out there," said Kim Zmeskal, a retired American gymnast who won an Olympic bronze medal in 1992.ĥ. But the remote location doesn't matter most gymnasts would do pretty much anything to train there. "We're in the boonies," Bela told the Los Angeles Times. Which is pretty impressive, considering they're in the middle of nowhere. The ranch is not only where the Karolyis live, it's also where they run their famed women's gymnastics training camp, which was named the official women's national team training center in 2000 and a designated U.S. The Karolyis 40-acre ranch is in Sam Houston National Forest, just 40 minutes outside of Houston. Which brings me to my next point: They have a training ranch. because, as Bela told Timein 2012, the Romanian government said they were going to use Nadia's success to increase "the power of the communist system." Once in the United States, they quickly landed coaching jobs at the University of Oklahoma and then moved to Texas to build a training ranch.Ĥ. However, the duo defected from the then-Communist regime in 1981, and fled for the U.S. At the 1956 Games, he partook in the hammer throw competition for Romania.ģ. Bela has competed in the Olympics himself. They were both born in 1942 in Romania where Bela coached Nadia Comaneci to the first perfect 10 in women's gymnastics Olympics history at the 1976 Montreal games (breath-taking video below).Ģ. Here's everything you need to know about the ~notoriously driven~ coaches before their final batch of proteges do their gym thing (and win big).ġ. Post-Rio, the Karolyis are retiring to their Texas ranch but not before going out with a bang - the 2016 Olympics American women's gymnastics team is widely considered the strongest in history, and there's no doubt the pair will add even more Olympic golds to their treasure chest before they say good-bye. The Romanians have been training Team USA for dozens of years now, though it's officially Martha's show these days (Bela retired from coaching in the 1990s and as Team USA's national coordinator in 2001.) However, the Rio Olympics might be the most important games of their careers as it's reportedly Martha's last as the team's coordinator also. Martha and Bela Karolyi have been turning out greats - the greatest of the greats, even - in women's gymnastics for over five decades. Bela and Martha pictured at their ranch training camp in 2011.
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