BARCELONA -- US women's gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, who once said he'd probably retire after the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta, now says he'll retire after these Games. ''This is my last competition,'' said Karolyi, who has coached medalists -- Romanian or American -- at every Olympics since 1976. ''My decision has been made, in accordance with my wife. It is painful, but I have to. I have to.'' Karolyi, who coached both Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton to gold medals, revolutionized women's gymnastics by using super-flexible teen-agers who performed daring acrobatic maneuvers. His American gymnasts were the first to win an Olympic title (Retton, 1984), the first to win an Olympic medal against a full field (Phoebe Mills, 1988), the first to win a world team medal (1991) and the first to win the world all-around title (Kim Zmeskal, 1991).
By: John Powers, Kevin Paul Dupont, Jack Craig and Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe staff and from the Associated Press.|Date: Jul 30, 1992