Word: karolyis
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...gold for the United States. "My foot was killing me" after the first vault, Strug said. But the thought of passing up the second vault never entered her mind. "This is the Olympics. This is what you dream about from when you're 5 years old." Her coach Bela Karolyi carried her back to the arena for the medal ceremony, cradling her in his arms as the crowd gave her a standing ovation. "We didn't want to march out without Kerri," said her teammate Amanda Borden. "We kept telling her, we couldn't have done it without her." Strug...
Then came Barcelona and Zmeskal's disappointing nonmedal finish. Convinced that Zmeskal had been robbed of glory, Karolyi announced midway through the competition that he was retiring. At the time it smacked of politics. But in fact, Karolyi meant business, and bequeathed his elite program to Martha. "We were upset," says Dimitry. "Martha said, 'Don't worry.' It was his first big defeat. Martha thought he'd come back...
Dominique, who was never told Karolyi had retired, figured he would show up one day. Meanwhile, coaches were brought in from Russia and Romania to work with her on the floor, bars and vault. But her main coach was Martha, who groomed her for what would become her strongest event, the balance beam. "I'm pretty close to Martha," says Moceanu. "When I have a problem I can talk to her. It's girl to girl. Um. Woman to woman." Moceanu giggles. "Well, kid to woman...
...Karolyi now sees value in Moceanu's '94 national victory. "Her maturity since last year has grown incredibly," he says. "Now comes the pride of being a national champion. That gives motivation to be strong, sharp, demanding." It also places a new burden on Moceanu. "You want to live up to the expectation," she says. Then again, Moceanu has lived her whole life with others' expectations: first her father's, now Karolyi's. But she prefers not to discuss the toll. "I'm aware of it, yeah," she allows. "I don't bring it up too much...
...also helps that neither Dimitry nor Karolyi seems to be hinging his future happiness on the outcome in Atlanta. Though Dimitry remains his daughter's most avid fan, he also takes great pride in the used-car lot he opened last December. He and Camelia, he says, "succeed in our life too, day by day, year by year." As for Karolyi, he says only Zmeskal could have made him bleed. He isn't concerned that the Olympics will throw Moceanu off her stride--or off the beam. "Dominique is naturally self-confident," Bela says, then laughs. "Sometimes too much...