# Controversial Romanian-American gymnastic coach Bela Karolyi has died, aged 82 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports\ **Created:** [November 18, 2024, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384 "2024-11-18T04:21:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/1 "2024-11-18T04:21:38Z")
He’s not getting a lot of love, to put it lightly. I did see some chatter during the Paris Olympics when he didn’t go to Paris or make any public appearances or statements, that I’m aware of, that he may not have been in good health. > **[Bela Karolyi, polarizing U.S. gymnastics coach, dies at 82](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bela-karolyi-polarizing-u-s-gymnastics-coach-dies-age-82/)** > > Bela Karolyi and his wife Martha defected to the U.S. in 1981, and over the next 30-plus years, became a guiding force in American gymnastics, though not without controversy. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/2 "2024-11-18T04:55:59Z")
Lugash from The Simpsons was based off this person. [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/f/f4/Lugash.png) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/f/f4/Lugash.png) “I am Lugash!” > **[Lugash](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Lugash)** > > Lugash is a Hungarian gymnastics instructor. He has a thick Hungarian accent and a large, brown curled mustache. His origin is a bit mysterious as he says that he came into the United States in 1983. However, Ms. Pommelhorst claims that he defected... > His origin is a bit mysterious as he says that he came into the United States in 1983. However, Ms. Pommelhorst claims that he defected _into_ Germany, by “cartwheeling over the Berlin Wall”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/3 "2024-11-18T21:52:45Z")
That’s not controversial. That’s scandalous. There’s no controversy about sexual abuse; it’s just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/4 "2024-11-18T22:13:22Z")
His methods (and those of his wife, who apparently was even more brutal) were controversial. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/5 "2024-11-19T06:09:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s not controversial. That’s scandalous. There’s no controversy about sexual abuse; it’s just wrong. I don’t ever remember seeing any accusations against him for sexual abuse. Maybe that he should have known it was happening not that he was guilty of it himself. He was accused of pushing his athletes too hard at too young an age. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/6 "2024-11-19T06:17:22Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I don’t ever remember seeing any accusations against him for sexual abuse. Maybe that he should have known it was happening not that he was guilty of it himself. He **enabled** the abuse by providing a place for the abuser to operate from, and also through his brutality (including starving athletes) he helped make them vulnerable to the predator (who would sneak them food to groom them). I don’t recall any credible accusations that he took part in the sexual abuse directly, but he created the perfect environment for it to occur in. It was at the very least guilt by association, but very much so. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/7 "2024-11-20T03:10:29Z")
He and his wife may also (MHO: quite likely) have known what Dr. Nasser was doing to his patients. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-romanian-american-gymnastic-coach-bela-karolyi-has-died-aged-82/1010384/8 "2024-11-20T22:06:12Z")
Wasn’t this the same situation with Joe Paterno? It was never alleged that he committed the abuse himself, but that he permitted it to happen.