Bela Karolyi, the larger-than-life coach who led Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton to Olympic gold while revolutionizing the sport of gymnastics, only to see his legacy destroyed by allegations of abusive coaching, has died. He was 82.

Bela Karolyi and his wife Martha defected to the U.S. in 1981, and over the next 30-plus years, became a guiding force in American gymnastics, though not without controversy.

Former American and Romanian gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi died on Friday at age 82, according to USA Gymnastics. Karolyi and his wife, Martha