Gymnastics coaching stars Bela and Martha Karoly were accused by a gymnast of abusing her while she was training in Romania about 30 years ago. But Bela Karolyi said in an interview with a Romanian newspaper that he did not feel guilt when coaching in Romania and that his attitude was more like a parent's towards the gymnasts.
The accusations were made by Trudi Eberle Kollar, who won double silver in the 1980 Olympics and who now coaches in California. She said, quoted by a local television there, that Bela Karolyi was the one to usually hit or kick her, even drawing blood when making mistakes during training.
Bela Karolyi later told Romanian newspaper Cotidianul that while girls like Eberle would have bad memories of the time training with him, others would say otherwise as he would first be interested in playing the role of a father when coaching.
Associated Press quoted a USA Gymnastics statement saying that the organization has never received any complaint about the conduct of the Karolyis, from gymnasts or parents.
