Renald Knysh
Renald Ivanovich Knysh (, ; 10 September 1931 – 19 April 2019) was a Soviet and Belarusian coach in artistic gymnastics. Considered one of gymnastics' pioneering coaches, he is well-known as the coach of Olga Korbut. He was also an accused child rapist, with allegations from multiple gymnasts he coached. He was an Honored Сoach of the BSSR and the USSR and Honorary Сitizen of Grodno. Biography. Knysh was born in Kapyl, Minsk Region in September 1931, and was the Belarusian junior champion in 1949. He began coaching in 1953 at the Grodno children's sports school No. 3. He  was the coach of Olympic champions Yelena Volchetskaya (1964) and Korbut (1972 and 1976), as well as Soviet national champion Tamara Alekseeva. After the 1972 Olympics, as part of the Soviet delegation, Knysh met with US President Richard Nixon. After the 1980 Olympic Games, he left the sport. He lived in Mineralnye Vody, Tallinn and Kaliningrad. In 1989, he returned to Grodno and wrote his memoirs. He worked on drafting a proposal of benefits for Russian athletes in preparation for the 2012 Olympics, but it did not win approval. In his spare time he composed poetry. Knysh died in Grodno  in April 2019 at the age of 87. Abuse allegations. In 1981, Knysh was investigated by Soviet officials after a 17-year-old gymnast he trained attempted suicide, leaving a note saying that he was the reason she wanted to die and alleging that he had sexually abused her from the age of fourteen. The girl's parents accused Knysh of raping, corrupting, and inciting their daughter to attempt suicide. The investigation was dropped without charges being filed. In 1999, Olga Korbut stated publicly that she had been physically and sexually abused by Knysh while he trained her, and that  he had raped her shortly before the 1972 Olympics, after plying her with cognac. She alleged that the abuse continued for several years, until Knysh moved on to younger girls. In 2018, four other former gymnasts who trained under Knysh as girls and teenagers (Halina Chasnouskaya, Halina Karcheuskaya, Lyudmila Rabkova and Korbut's sister, Lyudmilla Bazhko) corroborated Korbut's allegations, stating that the coach would routinely give his gymnasts rides home after practice and then sexually assault the last one in the car. They also said that he showed them sex toys and pornography, including child pornography. Knysh called the  abuse allegations "a lie and an abomination", and said that young gymnasts were always trying to "become [the coach's] mistress or wife".