Bela Karolyi, a renowned gymnastics coach, hails from Romania. His birthplace is Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where he was born on September 13, 194. Bela Karolyi’s parents are Nándor Károlyi and Irén Károlyi. In 1963, he tied the knot with Márta Károlyi, and together they have a single child named Andrea Karolyi.

Bela Karolyi, along with his wife Marta, revolutionized gymnastics coaching in the United States after relocating from Romania. Bela was instrumental in developing the Romanian centralized training system for gymnastics early in his coaching career, with Nadia Comaneci being one of his first successful students, achieving the first perfect score in Olympic Games history.

Both Bela and Marta have served as head coaches for the U.S. national gymnastics women’s team and as national team coordinators at the Olympic Games for U.S. gymnastics, which has led to significant international success.

Bela Karolyi and his wife Marta have trained 9 Olympic champions, 16 European medalists, 15 world champions and 6 U.S. National Champions. Some notable gymnasts coached by the couple are Mary Lou Retton, Dominique Moceanu, Nadia Comaneci, Kristie Phillips, Betty Okino, Kim Zmeskal, Teodora Ungureanu, and Kerri Strug.

Bela Karolyi was induced two times into the Hall of Fame in his career, the first time in 1997 into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame and in 2000 into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame.