MOSCOW, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- International basketball pioneer Alexander Gomelsky, who guided the Soviet Union team to Olympic gold medals, has died.
The 77-year-old died in a Moscow hospital Tuesday after a long fight with cancer, the Moscow Times reported.
Known in the United States for coaching a Soviet team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics that handed the U.S. basketball team its second ever Olympic loss, Gomelsky was known in Russia as "Papa."
Considered the father of Soviet basketball, Gomelsky coached teams to five European Championships, eight European Championships and the Olympic gold.
Gomelsky began coaching in 1949 in Leningrad and led the ASK Riga team to its first three titles at the European Champions Cups.
He had three tenures as the Soviet Union head basketball coach, 1958-60, 1962-70 and 1976-88.
Gomelsky was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1995.
A memorial service and interment was set for Thursday.
