In 1996, Márta was chosen as the head coach of the U.S. Béla accompanied the gymnasts to meets and was a highly visible presence to both the gymnastics community and the media Márta remained in the background. In the Károlyi coaching team, Béla was often known as the 'motivator,' while Márta was the 'technician,' applying her gymnastics savvy to help her athletes learn and perfect their technique, mechanics, and form. Márta Károlyi has avoided most of the controversy and accusations of abusive coaching that have trailed her husband, opting for a quieter, less abrasive approach. At the 1991 World Championships, every single gymnast on the American squad was either a Károlyi athlete or trained by a former Károlyi club coach. By 1990, Károlyi gymnasts were so dominant at national United States meets that journalists dubbed the top cluster of athletes the 'Károlyi six-pack'. Béla's status as 'Nadia's coach' quickly attracted gymnasts to the club, and by the late 1980s, the Károlyi gym had become the preeminent training facility in the United States. 1980s and 1990sĪfter their defection, the Károlyis established a gym in Houston, Texas. The couple's daughter, Andrea, joined them later.

They were granted asylum and settled in Oklahoma. In 1981, the Károlyis, along with fellow Hungarian-Romanian team choreographer Géza Pozsár, defected during a gymnastics tour in the United States. While Béla became a highly visible figure in Romanian gymnastics, accompanying the team to major competitions and often clashing with officials in the sport, Márta remained in the background, coaching and choreographing routines for some of the team's gymnasts. One of the first students at the Károlyis' school was six-year-old Nadia Comăneci, who lived near Oneşti and commuted from home. They established a boarding school in Oneşti, training young girls specially chosen for their athletic potential.

Romania's famed centralized training program has its roots in the 1950s the Károlyis helped develop the program further in the late 1960s and early 1970s. national champions, including Mary Lou Retton, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, Teodora Ungureanu, Phoebe Mills, Nadia Comăneci, Kim Zmeskal, and Dominique Moceanu. Béla and Márta Károlyi have trained nine Olympic champions, fifteen world champions, sixteen European medalists and many U.S. She and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania, Romania, who trained athletes in Romania before defecting to the United States in 1981. Márta Károlyi ( Hungarian: née Erőss born August 29, 1942) is a Hungarian-born Romanian-American gymnastics coach and the former national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics. Romanian centralized gymnastics training system and coach to many world champions in Romania and U.S. Székelyudvarhely, Kingdom of Hungary (now Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania)

Marta karolyi