Bela Karolyi was born September 13, 1942, in Cluj, Romania. He has become the most successful coach in the history of gymnastics. His coaching efforts have produced 28 Olympians, nine Olympic Champions, 15 World Champions, 12 European medalists and six U.S. National Champions in 30 years of coaching gymnastics in both his native Romania and the United States. Among his most accomplished gymnasts are Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton, Julianne McNamara, Phoebe Mills, Kim Zmeskal, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug and Dominique Moceanu.


Bela and his wife, Martha, defected to the United States during an exhibition tour in 1981. He worked menial jobs to support them at first, but within one year they were coaching gymnastics once again in Oklahoma. Shortly thereafter, Bela was approached by a group of businessmen with an offer to coach at a private gym in Houston. When the group faced financial difficulties in October of 1982, Karolyi convinced them to sell the gym to him. He then built the gym into a cornerstone of the American gymnastics movement.