Bela Karolyi
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Béla Károlyi (dilahirkan 13 September 1942 di Cluj-Napoca, Romania) merupakan jurulatih gimnastik terkenal di dunia. Bersama dengan isterinya, Marta (kadang kala dikenali sebagai Martha). Károlyi telah melatih pasukan Amerika Syarikat dan Romania bagi mendapat pingat.
Károlyi mempelopori gimnastik berpusat Romania pada lewat 1960-an dan awal 1970-an. Beliau menubuhkan sebuah sekolah berasrama dalam Satuşti, bagi latihan gadis-gadis muda terutamanya dipilih untuk potensi dalam olahraga mereka. Satu daripada pelajar-pelajar pertama di sekolah Karolyi adalah Nadia Comaneci yang berusia enam tahun, yang tinggal berhampiran dengan Oneşti, dan berulang-alik daripada rumah.
Karolyi menjadi jurulatih antarabangsa pada 1974. Di Sukan Olimpik 1976, beliau merupakan ketua jurulatih pasukan Romania. Kebanyakan dari ahli pasukan merupakan atlet-atlet Oneşti.
Berikutan kejayaan Nadia Comaneci yang mengagumkan di Montreal, kepentingan Karolyi sebagai seorang jurulatih diketahui. Beliau dipilih sebagai ketua jurulatih pasukan Romania bagi Sukan Olimpik 1980. Bagaimanapun, selepas Olimpik, Karolyi sekali lagi bertelingkah dengan pegawai-pegawai Persekutuan Romania. Ketegangan ini bertambah, dan semasa lawatan gimnastik 1981, Bela, Marta, dan pereka tari pasukan Romania Geza Pozar berpaling tadah dan mencari perlindungan politik di Amerika Syarikat. Mereka menetap di Oklahoma.
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[Sunting] The six-pack
In 1981, a group of businessmen invited Károlyi to join a gymnastics business venture. He decided to invest in the business and the Károlyis relocated to Houston, Texas. The gym ran into financial problems, however, and Károlyi ended up buying it.
Károlyi's status as "Nadia's coach" quickly attracted gymnasts to his club. Only three years after his defection, in 1984, Károlyi was back at the Olympics as the individual coach of all-around champion Mary Lou Retton and uneven bars gold medalist Julianne McNamara.
Károlyi's clout in America grew after 1984, and by the time the 1988 Olympics rolled around, he was influential enough to be made head coach of the women's team. Károlyi was also the personal coach of three athletes on the squad: balance beam bronze medalist Phoebe Mills, the only female US gymnast to medal in Seoul; Chelle Stack and Brandy Johnson.
After the 1988 Olympics, Károlyi's sphere of influence continued to grow, as did the number of elites training in his gym. At one meet in 1989, a journalist dubbed six top Károlyi gymnasts the "six-pack." Although the members of the six-pack would change, the name stuck and increased Károlyi's prominence in the sport. At the 1991 World Championships, an astounding four of the six athletes on the US women's team were trained by Károlyi; the other two were trained by ex-Károlyi club coaches. The situation was almost repeated at the 1992 Olympics, where Károlyi was head coach and five of the seven athletes (six competitors and one alternate) were either trained by him or one of his proteges.
Károlyi mostly acted as a personal coach for his athletes Dominique Moceanu and Kerri Strug at the 1996 Olympics, but still managed to draw the spotlight. After Strug was injured during the US team's final rotation on vault, Károlyi carried her to the podium to accept her gold medal. The moment was photographed and widely distributed, becoming, arguably, one of the most enduring memories of the Olympics.
Károlyi retired from coaching after the 1996 Olympics. He and Marta still have a ranch and gymnastics camp in Houston.
Among the gymnasts Béla and Martha Károlyi have trained are Mary Lou Retton, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, Teodora Ungureanu, Nadia Comaneci, Kim Zmeskal and Dominique Moceanu. In total, Károlyi has coached nine Olympic champions, fifteen world champions, sixteen European medalists and six U.S. national champions.
In 1997 Béla Károlyi was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[1]
[Sunting] 1999-2000
Following the success of the "Magnificent Seven" at the 1996 Olympics, USA Gymnastics experienced a lull. A new age limit kept some of their top gymnasts out of the World Championships in 1997. While American gymnasts did medal in international competitions such as the Goodwill Games and the Pacific Alliance, they were largely unsuccessful in most major meets. In both 1997 and 1999, the American team left the World Championships without a single medal.
Following the US team's dismal sixth place finish at the 1999 Worlds, USA Gymnastics attempted to revamp their program by hiring Károlyi to serve as National Team Coordinator. Károlyi required that all national team members attend frequent grueling camps at his ranch near Houston and selection procedures for international meets became more arbitrary. Coaches resented what they felt was Károlyi's intrusion onto their domain; athletes were under a considerable amount of stress. At the 2000 Olympics, where the US team once again came away without a single medal, the tension had escalated to the point where gymnasts were openly speaking out against Károlyi to the media.
In 2001, the National Team Coordinator position was handed over to Károlyi's wife, Marta. While Marta has retained some aspects of Béla's program, such as the training camp system (although camps are less frequent now), her approach appears to be different, and more acceptable to both coaches and gymnasts. It has also yielded more impressive competitive results: between 2001 and 2005, American women won a combined total of twenty-four medals in World Championship and Olympic competition.
[Sunting] Controversy
Károlyi's career as a coach has been saddled by controversy.
While still in Romania, Károlyi came under fire from Romanian officials due to his score protests and conduct at several international meets, including the 1980 Olympics. His school in Oneşti was originally shunned in favor of Bucharest's Dinamo club; Károlyi had to battle the Romanian gymnastics federation to get Nadia Comaneci and his other athletes named to the 1975 European Championships and the 1976 Olympic team.
In America, Károlyi's training methods have been roundly criticized. Some of his former athletes, including Kristie Phillips and Erica Stokes, have stated publicly that Károlyi was verbally and psychologically abusive during workouts. Károlyi's constant critical remarks about weight and body type were said to drive some gymnasts to develop eating disorders and low self-esteem. At meets away from home, Károlyi was reputed to limit his gymnasts' caloric intake to as little as 900 calories a day. Even Károlyi supporters have admitted that at certain competitions, his gymnasts ate so sparingly that members of the men's gymnastics team smuggled food to them in their hotel rooms.
However, many of Károlyi's most prominent gymnasts have vehemently defended him against these allegations. Nadia Comaneci, in her memoir Letters to a Young Gymnast, remarked that she literally trusted Károlyi with her life. She also stated that in Romania, the gymnasts at Károlyi's school consumed well-balanced diets and, in fact, ate better than most of the other civilians in the country at the time. Olympic medalists and Károlyi gymnasts Mary Lou Retton, Phoebe Mills, Dominique Moceanu and Kim Zmeskal, among others, have also praised Károlyi and his training regimen.
A third group of gymnasts have admitted that some of the allegations about Károlyi were true, but have also claimed that the ends—medals—justified the means. In Joan Ryan's Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, 1992 Olympian Betty Okino stated, "What Béla did worked. He motivated me by getting me mad." Some have claimed that Károlyi stopped treating gymnasts harshly when he was directly requested to do so by parents.
[Sunting] Reference
- ↑ BELA KAROLYI. International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Dicapai pada April 01 2006.
[Sunting] External links and resources
- Béla Karolyi's bio at USA Gymnastics
- Interview with Betty Okino at Sports Hollywood
- Image of Karolyi carrying Kerri Strug
- "Bela-aching tough to stomach" Article from the Chicago Sun-Times, September 20, 2000
- "Back in good graces" Article from the Arizona Republic, July 14, 2004
- "Time to bid Bela goodbye" Article from the St. Petersburg Times, September 20, 2000
- Whatever happened to Amy Scherr? Former "Karolyi six-pack" gymnast
- Hilary Grivich Former "Karolyi six-pack" gymnast
- Diaries of Hilary Grivich Now offline (Internet Archive version)
- "Emphasis on thin a heavy burden" Scott M. Reid, Buffalo News
- Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, Joan Ryan, 1995, Doubleday, New York, ISBN 0385477902
- Letters To A Young Gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, 2003, Basic Books, New York, ISBN 0465012760
