In light of MyKayla Skinner's controversy: All about Bela and Marta Karolyi's brutal training methods that showered Team USA with Olympic medals

By Neelabhra Roy

Modified Jul 05, 2024 08:47 GMT

MyKayla Skinner recently created controversy through her comments on the U.S. gymnastics team for the upcoming Paris Olympics. The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist said that the current contingent lacked depth apart from Simone Biles.

Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Hezky Rivera, and Jade Carey will be the gymnasts representing the United States in Paris following the conclusion of the trials in Minneapolis.

Skinner, who won the silver medal in the vault event at the Tokyo Olympics, said that the gymnastics team lacked talent and depth like before and that a number of the athletes did not work as hard.

"Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be. I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner said.

The 27-year-old also said that the lack of hard work was because of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which prevented coaches from "getting on athletes". She said that coaches needed to be more aggressive in order for gymnasts to unlock their full potential.

"A lot of girls don't work as hard. It's hard too because of SafeSport. Coaches can't get on athletes which in some ways is really good but at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics you do have to be...a little aggressive, a little intense," Skinner added.

MyKayla Skinner later apologized for her remarks. She spoke about working under Marta Karolyi, who had stricter coaching methods when she managed the gymnastics team and was later the team coordinator.

"It was more about going back into my own gym, just the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Márta [Károlyi] era. And I'm not sticking up for Márta or saying what she did was good, I'm just saying it was different," Skinner said.

Marta Karolyi and her husband Bela Karolyi are among the finest gymnastics coaches in history, who have overseen the careers of several Olympic champions. The duo had a school in their homeland Romania, where Nadia Comaneci trained. Five years after Comaneci's exploits at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the Karolyis defected to the United States and had their own gym in Houston where several gymnasts trained.

These included Marie Lou Retton and Julianne McNamara, both of whom won gold at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Following this, Bela Karolyi bought the Karolyi Ranch, and he and his wife started training athletes there. His wife Marta became the national team coach for the United States at the 1988 Olympics.

However, Bela Karolyi's crowning moment came at the 1996 Summer Olympics when the American team won the team event ahead of the dominant Russian team.