Bela Karolyi, the coach who helped make Mary Lou Retton the first American woman to win the all-around Olympic gold medal in gymnastics and who became half of the sport’s ultimate power couple with his wife, Martha, but whose reputation was tainted by accusations of an abusive style and blindness to the sexual crimes of Dr. Larry Nassar, died on Friday. He was 82.
His death was announced by U.S.A. Gymnastics, the national governing body for the sport. The statement did not provide further details.
Karolyi first rose to international fame as the coach of the Romanian team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where his protégé Nadia Comaneci, who was then 14, became the first gymnast awarded a perfect score of 10.