Sergei BELOV

Sergey Belov played guard for the Soviet national basketball team from 1967 until 1980. He won four Olympic medals, bronzes in 1968, 1976, and 1980, and a gold medal in the controversial final of 1972. In addition, Belov played on teams that won the World Championships in 1967 and 1974 and European Championships in 1967, 1969, 1971, and 1979. He was very popular in his home country, and picked to light the Olympic Flame during the opening of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, during the last year of his career. In the Soviet league, he initially played for Uralmash, before switching to CSKA Moskva. With that side, he won 11 national titles, as well as two Euroleague victories (1969, 1971). Already a playing coach during his career, Belov took up coaching. In 1982, he won the Soviet title with CSKA, and later the Russian title with Perm in 2001. As the coach of Russia, he won two World Championship silvers (1994 and 1998), and a bronze at the European Championships. In 1992, Belov became the first European to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame.