Bela Karolyi

Geza Pozsar was born in Romania around 1950. He spent his early years in Cluj, the hometown of Karolyi. As choreographer and coach of elite gymnasts, Pozsar was instrumental in bringing Olympic medalist Nadia Comaneci to the podium.

On March 30, 1981, he was among the trio of defectors that included Bela and Marta Karolyi who requested political asylum in the United States. Along with his wife and a young daughter, Karina, who was only two years old at that time, Pozsar left behind in Romania his parents and one brother. Eventually he was reunited with his wife and daughter. When the Karolyis went to California in 1981, Pozsar accompanied them. He found work and remained in Sacramento when the others moved to Oklahoma.

Pozsar, who worked with a string of Olympic gymnasts for three decades, spent much of his time in the 1990s traveling as an elite coach for the U.S. Gymnastics Federation. He owns a gymnastics club with Tami Ross on El Camino Avenue in Sacramento and is a member of the Northern California Women's Gymnastics Association.