Bela’s in the house

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Bela Karolyi has handed off national coaching duties to his wife, Martha, but he is still an attention magnet. Bela arrived at nationals Saturday (he missed Thursday’s first round) and began hugging and kissing everyone near him -- judges, journalists, gymnasts and finally, Martha. And while doing all that glad-handing, Bela never took his eyes off the gymnasts as they warmed up. You can tell, Bela still has an opinion on performances. And it counts. Read more about Bela and watch a Los Angeles Times video by Myung Chun, who traveled with me last month to see Karolyi’s ranch in Texas, where all top U.S. gymnasts eventually come to train -- as a U.S. team.

-- Diane Pucin