FIBA Basketball World Cup Legend: Sergei Belov

MADRID (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The late Sergei Belov, a two-time winner of the FIBA World Championship, is among the most revered sportsmen in Russian basketball history.

With the former Soviet Union, he captured world titles in Uruguay in 1967, and again seven years later when in Puerto Rico.

Belov was also a celebrated figure in his homeland after pouring in a game-high 20 points for the Soviets in their triumph over the United States in the Gold Medal Game at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

"To play for the national team was a huge honor and a great chance to see the world and meet people from all over the world," Belov once said.

"It was a great honor to represent the country as a member of the team - and a great challenge."

Born in 1944, Belov made his professional debut at the age of 20 with Uralmash Sverdlovski.

A few years later, he moved to CSKA Moscow.

Eleven times he won Russian league titles and Belov also had EuroLeague championship triumphs with CSKA in 1969 and 1971.

To the wider basketball community, though, Belov is best known for his memorable runs with the Soviet Union national team.

He competed in four Olympic Finals, four World Championship Finals and seven European Championship Finals.

The Soviet Union had so much respect for Belov that the country bestowed upon him the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony for the Moscow Games in 1980.

As a coach, Belov famously steered Russia to silver medals at the 1994 (Toronto) and 1998 (Athens) FIBA World Championships.

Were there any plays or games that stood out as the most significant in his career?

"I cannot find a few moments that I liked the most," he once said, "but I enjoyed all of my career - training, national competitions, international competitions."

The first European to be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, Belov served as the president of the Russian Basketball Federation from 1993-98.

In 2007, Belov was enshrined as part of the first class of inductees to the FIBA Hall of Fame.

FIBA