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Bela Karolyi
| Article
# : |
17057 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1990 |
2,582 Words |
| Author
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Heather B. Hayes
Heather B. Hayes is a freelance writer living in the
Washington, D.C., area. |
Bela Karolyi stares intently at his latest American Cup winner, Kim Zmeskal, who waits solemnly for her turn at the vault. A firm believer in the hands-on approach - teach, motivate, hug, and worry - Karolyi prowls the gym floor and mumbles anxiously. Although he's far from a stranger to competition at the top, his inevitable fussing makes each meet seem like his first.
The crowd recognizes the tiny gymnast and quiets down when Zmeskal addresses the row of international judges. Breaking suddenly, she races down the runway, her legs a blur. She back-handsprings and explodes from the springboard, twisting in midair and landing smoothly on the other side.
It is good performance, for which she receives a 9.875, a score equal to or better than the Russian and Romanian gymnasts who preceded her. But even before her score has been tallied, Karolyi is out on the floor, swooping down on his young protégé.
"Concentrate," he tells Zmeskal in his heavy Transylvanian accent, looking grimly down the nearly two feet to her heart-shaped face. "Try to stay down and stick the landing."
He pats her on the back. For a moment she resembles Thumbelina in the cup of his hand. "Go strong," he instructs and walks away. She returns to the runway for her second attempt at the apparatus and this time bounds off the top of the vault with an increased explosiveness that sends her up higher and faster than before. She brings herself fully around and "sticks" the landing, standing like an exclamation point at the end of a sentence. Within seconds, Karolyi is back on the floor, his wide face curled with excitement. He pats Zmeskal on the head and utters the approval word that every Karolyi gymnast events, much as each covets an Olympic gold: "Guuuud!"
The Romanian Miracle
Karolyi is perhaps best known as the mentor of 1984 gold medallist Mary Lou Retton, the first American gymnast to achieve Olympic success. He is also remembered as Nadia Comaneci's arm-waving coach. Both were to leave their native country for political asylum (and, in his case, eventual citizenship) in the United States.
To many, however, Bela Karolyi is simply the best gymnastics coach in the world, and his record makes that statement difficult to dispute. Consider: Karolyi gymnasts have earned medals, seven of
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