Sergei Belov

Sergei Alexandrovich Belov (Russian: Серге́й Алекса́ндрович Бело́в; 23 January 1944 – 3 October 2013) was a Russian professional basketball player, most noted for playing for CSKA Moscow and the senior Soviet Union national basketball team.[1] He is considered to be one of the best European basketball players of all time, and was given the honour of lighting the Olympic Cauldron with the Olympic flame during the 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, in Moscow.

Sergei Belov
Сергей Белов
Belov in 2012
Personal information
Born(1944-01-23)23 January 1944
Nashchyokovo, Shegarsky District, Tomsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died3 October 2013(2013-10-03) (aged 69)
Perm, Russia
NationalitySoviet / Russian
Listed height6 ft 2.75 in (1.90 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
NBA draft1966 / Undrafted
Playing career1964–1980
PositionShooting guard
Coaching career1981–2004
Career history
As player:
1964–1967Uralmash Sverdlovsk
1968–1980CSKA Moscow
As coach:
1981–1982CSKA Moscow
1989–1990CSKA Moscow
1990–1993Basket Cassino
1999–2004Ural Great Perm
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As head coach:

Basketball Hall of Fame as player
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Soviet Union
Summer Olympic Games
1972 MunichTeam
1968 Mexico CityTeam
1976 MontrealTeam
1980 MoscowTeam
FIBA World Cup
1967 UruguayTeam
1974 Puerto RicoTeam
1978 PhilippinesTeam
1970 YugoslaviaTeam
FIBA Eurobasket
1967 FinlandTeam
1969 ItalyTeam
1971 West GermanyTeam
1979 ItalyTeam
1975 YugoslaviaTeam
1977 BelgiumTeam
1973 SpainTeam
Summer Universiade
1970 TurinTeam
Head coach for  Russia
FIBA World Cup
1994 Canada
1998 Greece
FIBA Eurobasket
1997 Finland

In 1991, Belov was named by FIBA as the Best FIBA Player ever.[2] He became the first international player to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on 11 May 1992. He was also inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007[3] and was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors in 2008.

Biography

Sergei Belov was born in the village of Nashchyokovo, Shegarsky District, Tomsk Oblast, Soviet Union.[4] In 1968, he became an Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR. He became an Honoured Coach of Russia in 1995, and served as President of the Russian Basketball Federation (1993–98).[4]

Club playing career
Belov lighting the Olympic Cauldron during the 22nd Olympics opening ceremony in Moscow, 1980

At the age of twenty, Belov made his debut in the USSR League, with the team of Uralmash Sverdlovsk, where he played from 1964 to 1967. He then played with CSKA Moscow for twelve years. With CSKA, he won the USSR League championship eleven times (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980), the USSR Cup twice (1972, 1973), and the EuroLeague twice, in 1969 and 1971.

National team playing career

As a member of the senior Soviet Union national basketball team, for nearly fourteen years (1967–1980), Belov helped them win a Summer Olympic Games gold medal in 1972, and three bronze medals in 1968, 1976, and 1980. He also helped them to become the FIBA World Cup champions in 1967 and 1974, and the EuroBasket champions in 1967, 1969, 1971, and 1979. He also won the Summer Universiade, in 1970, as well.

In the gold medal game of the 1972 Summer Olympics, Belov scored 20 points against the United States national basketball team, as the Soviet Union controversially defeated the USA, by a score of 51–50, to win the gold.

Coaching career

Belov was the head coach of CSKA Moscow, with whom he won the USSR League championship in 1982 and 1990. He was also the head coach of Ural Great Perm. With Ural Great Perm, he won the Russian Championship title in both 2001 and 2002, the Russian Cup in 2004, and the North European League championship in 2001.

As the head coach of the senior men's Russian national basketball team, he won silver medals at both the 1994 FIBA World Championship and the 1998 FIBA World Championship, and the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 1997. He was also Russia's head coach at the EuroBasket 1995 and the EuroBasket 1999.

Death

Sergei Alexandrovich Belov died on 3 October 2013, in Perm, Russia.[5] Asteroid 296638 Sergeibelov, discovered by Timur Kryachko in 2009, was named in his memory.[6] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 16 March 2014 (M.P.C. 87546).[7]

Awards and accomplishments

References and notes
  1. Yardley, William (3 October 2013). "Sergei Belov, Star Guard Who Led Soviet Upset of U.S., Dies at 69". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  2. Sergei Belov FIBA Profile. Fibaeurope.com (1972-09-09). Retrieved on 2011-11-02.
  3. FIBA Hall of Fame page on Belov Archived 2008-09-10 at the Wayback Machine. halloffame.fiba.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-02.
  4. Great Russian Encyclopedia (2005), Moscow: Bolshaya Rossiyskaya Entsiklopediya Publisher, vol. 3, p. 227.
  5. "Умер олимпийский чемпион по баскетболу Сергей Белов". Lenta.ru. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  6. "296638 Sergeibelov (2009 SD101)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  7. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 13 September 2019.

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