Bela Karolyi

In 1981 the Karolyis along with Pozsar, their choreographer of seven years, were dispatched with the national team to tour the United States in an exhibition that was guaranteed to raise a minimum of $180,000 for the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. When the exposition drew to a close, a midday flight departed from New York City on March 30, returning with the gymnasts to Romania. Karolyi was not on board. He had decided—along with his wife and Pozsar—to remain in the United States and request political asylum.

After filing appropriate immigration paperwork he migrated to Southern California at the urging of the vice president of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation. In California Karolyi picked up an odd job as a janitor and addressed the task of adding English to his six-language repertoire that included Hungarian, Russian, Romanian, German, French, and Italian.

Before long an opportunity at the University of Oklahoma sent the Karolyis packing to accept a summertime position at a gymnastics camp in Norman. A long-term post with the physical education department at the university was also in the offing for the following fall. With help from then-Texas Congressman Bill Archer, Karolyi sent for his seven-year-old daughter, Andrea, who had not attended the Romanian gymnastics exhibition and was in Deva on the day that her parents defected. She arrived in the United States some months later, after the diplomatic channels were cleared.

By the fall of 1981, plans were in progress for Karolyi to open a gymnasium in Houston, Texas. With $40,000 in backing from a small group of investors, Karolyi opened the Sundance Gym in Houston in the early months of 1982. He brought his first American team to competition soon afterward, winning the Texas Class I title. By September of the year Karolyi successfully bought out his partners, thus owning the facility outright. With 86 students in October of that year, he nearly doubled the enrolment to 168 by January of 1983. Additionally he secured one-half million dollars in loan funding from Texas Commercial Bank, to purchase the entire grounds and building of the facility. He expanded the gymnasium and purchased new equipment.

By 1983 Karolyi had purchased 1,200 acres near Huntsville, just north of Houston; and in 1989 the Houston gymnastics facility overflowed onto the rural acreage. That year the Karolyis established a summer camp, with log cabin residences for the gymnasts. In addition to athletes, the ranch housed chickens, turkeys, and swans along with such exotic livestock as camels, emus, ostriches, and llamas. Local wildlife—including deer and antelope—graced the grounds as well. By the early 2000s the camp accommodated more than 2,000 gymnasts annually.