Renald Knysh

Renald Ivanovich Knysh (Russian: Ренальд Иванович Кныш, Belarusian: Рэнальд Іванавіч Кныш; 10 September 1931 – 19 April 2019) was a Soviet and Belarusian coach in artistic gymnastics best known as the coach of Olga Korbut. He is also an accused child rapist, with allegations from multiple gymnasts he coached. He was an Honored Сoach of the BSSR and the USSR, Honorary Сitizen of Grodno.[1]

In this Eastern Slavic name, the patronymic is Ivanovich and the family name is Knysh.
Renald Knysh
Born
Renald Ivanovich Knysh

(1931-09-10)10 September 1931
Kapyl
Died19 April 2019(2019-04-19) (aged 87)
Grodno
Occupationgymnastics coach

Biography

Knysh was born in Kapyl, Minsk Region, and was the Belarusian junior champion in 1949. He began coaching in 1953 at the Grodno children's sports school No. 3.[2] 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.[3][4]

After the 1980 Olympic Games, he left the sport. He lived in Mineralnye Vody, Tallinn, Kaliningrad. In 1989, he returned to Grodno and wrote his memoirs.[3][5]

He worked on drawing up a proposal of benefits for Russian athletes in preparation for the 2012 Olympics, but it did not win approval.[6] In his spare time he composed poetry.[7]

Knysh died in Grodno in April 2019, aged 87.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10]

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.[9]

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".[9]

References
  1. Почётные граждане города Гродно
  2. "В Гродно умер знаменитый тренер по спортивной гимнастике Ренальд Кныш". Grodno Blog s13. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  3. "Ренальд Кныш: У меня лишь одно желание: публично плюнуть Корбут в лицо". Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  4. Ольги Корбут: о себе, воспитанницах и спортивной удаче
  5. Тренер олимпийских чемпионок: Ренальд Иванович Кныш
  6. Легендарный тренер Ренальд Кныш об Ольге Корбут, ошибках спортивных чиновников, ревности и любви
  7. К 85-летию Ренальда Ивановича Кныша
  8. "Умер знаменитый тренер по спортивной гимнастике Ренальд Кныш". sport.tut.by (in Russian). 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  9. Dynko, Alyaksandra (May 16, 2018). "#MeToo In Belarus: Ex-Teammates Bolster Korbut's Sexual-Assault Charges Against Coach". radio Free Europe. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  10. McElvoy, Anne (June 25, 1999). "Grin and bear it". Independent. Retrieved June 2, 2019.


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