GOMELSKY, ALEXANDER YAKOVLEVICH

GOMELSKY, ALEXANDER YAKOVLEVICH (1928–2005), Russian basketball coach. Born in Kronstadt, Gomelsky graduated from the trainers' college attached to the Lesgaft Institute for Physical Education in Leningrad (1945–48) and from the Military Institute of Physical Culture (1949–52). His first coaching job was with Leningrad's Spartak (1949–52). In 1953–66 he was head coach of ska Riga, where he won U.S.S.R. championships five times and the European Cup in 1957, 1958, and 1959. In 1966–88 Gomelaky was head coach of the cska armed forces basketball team, another U.S.S.R. powerhouse. Gomelsky also coached the Soviet national team in the 1962–88 period, with a break in 1970–76, winning an Olympic gold medal in 1988 as well as eight European and two world championships (1967, 1982). Outspoken as a Jew, he was kept from going to Munich for the 1972 Olympic Games by the kgb, which feared he would defect to Israel, and thus denied his rightful place as coach in the historic and controversial victory of the U.S.S.R. over the U.S. for the gold.

In 1991–92 Gomelsky was president of the Russian Basketball Federation and in 1997 became president of the cska basketball club. He created a sports dynasty of sorts. His brother evgeny (1938– ) coached the Russian women's basketball team that won the 1992 Olympic championship and then became coach of Israel's national women's team. Three of Gomelsky's sons are also active in sports. Gomelsky was a popular sports commentator on tv and the author of a series of books on basketball. In 1995 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

[Naftali Prat (2^nd ed.)]