Bela Karolyi

Back in Romania, always I was struggling to compete with Vladislav Rastorotsky, the great Russian coach of Lyudmila Turishcheva. He was a powerful coach, internationally. I took him like the major challenge of my life, and pretty soon I'm beating him and we are pushing each other so hard, so fierce. But out of the arena, we are friends. ”

I'm tired of being hunted all over. I can't go anywhere without criticism. ”

I would love very much to win a medal at the Olympics for myself, by my own performance. But that will never happen. ”

A good 80 percent of the vault is still physical and another percentage of it, 20, 25 percent is mental. Mental is always the mental strength, the confidence building up to that contest or repetition, practice, practice, and practice. ”

I consider myself very lucky that I could live my life through all the ups and downs. ”

What makes the vault so spectacular is because it's a very athletic type of event, where it needs a lot of speed, a lot of explosive action and, of course, great coordination. ”

The Olympics shows the community what gymnastics is all about. ”

Genetics is all about showcasing human beauty along with high-quality performance. ”

What is a better way to prove that your methods work than by winning? I have proved that my methods work. ”

I still love to find and develop the young athletes in traditional ways. I like to watch the physical and mental growth. That has always been very exciting. ”