Famed gymnastics coach Béla Károlyi dies, leaving behind a complicated legacy

The World

Last week, gymnastics legend Béla Károlyi passed away. He was 82 years old. He trained some of the biggest names in gymnastics at the height of the Cold War, and across the East-West divides. But his legacy is complicated by allegations of an abusive coaching style and his association with Dr. Larry Nassar, whose sexual abuse of women gymnasts surfaced in 2016. The World’s Carolyn Beeler spoke to Cristi Munteanu, a senior writer with the Romanian sports news site Golazo.

Will you support The World? 

The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?