MIES (Switzerland) - There were Sao Paulo street parties in1971 as locals celebrated Brazil's maiden medal at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, while the success helped them host the 1983 edition too.

The centrepiece of a historic chapter for the host nation 51 years ago was the amazing Nilza Garcia, the darling of the fans and someone who had showed her class as the tournament's top scorer at the event in 1967.

Her play gave hope, enjoyment and excitement for the supporters in creating one of the most colorful and memorable atmospheres any FIBA tournament had seen up until that point. One of the compelling reasons why it makes the FIBA 90 most iconic moments.

Even if Brazil were not able to snap the dominance of the Soviet Union, or the consistency of Czechoslovakia, taking a first medal was something that ignited even more interest in the sport and paved the way for future success on the global stage.

It was also a source of tremendous national pride since they could tick off a long list of rivals from the Americas that they had finished above, including the USA, Cuba, Argentina and Canada.

The other big story from Sao Paulo and perhaps even more of a reason why this competition is so iconic is that Africa finally got to fly its Continental flag on the global stage at the flagship event. Madagascar became the first African team to appear at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and while they didn't manage to win a game, it was an important first step for the female game. 

Meanwhile this was not the only FIBA Women's Basketball Word Cup that Brazil would host. Such was the amazing success of the competition, it returned 12 years later to the country, being hosted in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre.

However there would be tears of a different sort for the locals this time around. That was despite the emergence of a legend in the making in Hortencia Marcari, who top scored in the tournament with a stunning 29 points per game, Brazil would miss out on the podium and take 5th place. 

It was the Soviet Union who reigned supreme with a brilliant 10-0 record, eventually getting past USA 84-82 in a classic Final matchup. While FIBA Hall of Fame member Cheryl Miller poured in 23 points for the Americans, the Soviet Union not only had their own FIBA Hall of Fame member Uliana Semjonova matching that tally, but also a game-high 24 points from Elena Chausova which was the difference-maker.

The victory allowed Soviet Union to make it title number six and their sixth in seven editions as they extracted sweet revenge on USA for having ended their streak of five consecutive crowns at the previous edition. 

Certainly 1983 was also particularly memorable for China, since they managed to snap up their first ever medal with bronze. They were led by the three-pronged firepower of Xiaobo Song, Yuefang Chen and Chen Qiu who all averaged double-digit scoring returns.

FIBA