"Béla Károlyi's harsh words & critical demeanor often weighed heavily"- Dominique Moceanu gives her honest thoughts as she offers condolences 

Olympic Gold medalist Dominique Moceanu penned a heartfelt condolence to former Team USA gymnastics coach Béla Károlyi who passed away at 82. The former American gymnast expressed her thoughts and spoke about her experience of training under Károlyi revealing that even though she faced several challenges during training, these moments had a profound impact on defining her own path.

The news of Béla Károlyi's death took the gymnastics world by storm with several fans and gymnasts taking to social media to express their thoughts and offer condolences. One thing that always comes up during a discussion about the former U.S. Olympic gymnastics coach is his training methods at the infamous Károlyi ranch which were often termed as brutal along with a very strict diet plan.

At the age of 10, Dominique Moceanu began her training under Béla Károlyi. The former gymnast took to X to express her thoughts and wrote about the former coach's significant influence on her life. Furthermore, she shed light on the challenges that she faced due to his strict training methodologies as well as expressed how it helped her define her own path in life.

"Bela Karolyi was a man whose influence on my life and the sport of elite gymnastics is undeniably significant. He was a complex individual, embodying a mix of strengths and flaws that left a lasting impact on those around him," she wrote.

"Anyone who has followed my story knows that my journey under Bela's guidance as my coach came with immense challenges. His harsh words and critical demeanor often weighed heavily on me. While our relationship was fraught with difficulty, some of these moments of hardship helped me forge and define my own path," she added.

Furthermore, she extended her condolences to his family for their loss.

"As we bid farewell to Bela, I choose to send loving thoughts to his family and loved ones, and honor our relationship by embracing lessons learned and striving to help create a world where compassion and encouragement guide our actions. May he rest in peace," she concluded.

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Béla Károlyi's wife's reaction when Dominique Moceanu criticized Károlyi-duo's training method

1992 Olympics - Source: Getty

Dominique Moceanu had criticized Béla Károlyi and his wife Martha in 2008 in an interview on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. The former gymnast shed light on their strict training regimes and diet restrictions on gymnasts. His wife, Martha Károlyi addressed the situation and spoke about the situation in a press conference and said:

"I feel sad that a gymnast so accomplished as Dominique, being part of the 1996 Olympic team and being the individual medalist in 1995 world championships ... can remember the harder days during the preparation. I feel sad.''

Béla and Martha Károlyi retired from coaching collectively after the 1996 Olympics however, Martha returned to oversee the U.S. Gymnastics team in 2001.