Ulyana Larionovna Semenova (at birth - Iuliyaka [2] ; March 9, 1952 , Zarasai , Lithuanian SSR , USSR ) - Soviet basketball player , two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, 10-time European champion. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1971).
| Ulyana Larionovna Semenova | |
|---|---|
 Ulyana Semenova (left) | |
| Completed her career | |
| Position | Center |
| Growth | 208 cm |
| Citizenship |  USSR →  Latvia |
| Date of Birth | March 9, 1952 (aged 67) |
| Place of Birth | Zarasai , Lithuanian SSR , USSR [1] |
Content
Biography
She was born in an Old Believer family in Latgale, in the border village of Medumi with Lithuania [3] . In the maternity hospital in Lithuanian Zarasai, where Ulyana's father took the mother in childbirth, since it was closer than Daugavpils, the girl was mistakenly recorded as Juliaca.
In adolescence, Semenova began to grow rapidly and reached 1.80 m by the 5th grade. Parents turned to doctors, but they found the girl completely healthy. By the age of 13, her growth exceeded 1.90 m, and physical education teacher of the Medum secondary school of Daugavpils district Igor Antonovich Spogis drew the attention of the trainers of the Riga sports school to his student.
Semenova moved to Riga and two years later already played in the team of craftsmen of the Riga Tram-Trolleybus Trust - TTT , and at 16 she became the champion of the USSR for the first time. TTT by that time was already the leading club of the USSR and was the six-time winner of the USSR Cup since 1960, and won the main club tournament in women's basketball as many times as the European Champions Cup. With the advent of Semenova, with her 210-cm growth, it was almost impossible to beat TTT and the USSR national team. Her native club became the champion of the USSR a total of 15 times [3] .
She was a member of the Komsomol Central Committee , the Komsomol of the USSR team .
Center [4] . He is one of the highest women of the former USSR [4] , the rarest case of non-pathological gigantism [5] .
One of the most memorable victories, Semenova considers the third gold of her career in the gold of the 1983 World Cup in Sao Paulo (Brazil) in a match with the Americans. During the meeting, a scandal erupted when coach Lidia Alekseeva threatened the head of the FIBA to boycott the continuation of the match due to biased refereeing. However, Semenova still got her five fouls at this meeting and looked at the final part of the game from the bench. The outcome was decided two seconds before the final siren, when Elena Chausova scored two winning penalties - 84:82.
This was the last gold for women's basketball in the USSR: in 1984, the Soviet Union boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles . Then the coaching staff was replaced in the team, which removed Semyonova from the team. In preparation for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Semenova was called back, but she refused. As a result, the Olympic gold went to the USA, and the USSR team won only bronze.
March 11, 1987 Semenova as part of TTT won the last European title - Ronchetti Cup .
Then she became the first Soviet basketball player to receive a foreign contract - with the Spanish Tintoretto. Its sum for half a year was 45 thousand dollars, however, the USSR State Committee for Sport gave only 400 dollars a month to the basketball player herself [3] .
She completed her sports career in 1989 in France [3] .
In 1989-1992, the vice president of the Latvian NOC. Since 1991, Chairman of the Latvian Olympic Social Fund.
Graduated from the Latvian State Institute of Physical Culture (1973).
Achievements
In 1993, the first Soviet basketball player was included in the Springfield Hall of Fame, in 1999 - in the similar Women's Basketball Hall, created in Tennessee, in 2007 - in the Hall of Fame of the International Basketball Federation in Spain (FIBA).
Semenova recognized as the best basketball player of Latvia of the XX century and the best center in the history of Russian basketball [3] ..
- Champion OI-76, OI-80
- World Champion 1971, 1975, 1983
- European Champion 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985
- Champion of the USSR 1968-73, 1975-77, 1979-84. Silver medalist of the USSR championship 1974, 1978
- Winner of V (1971), VI (1975), VII (1979), VIII (1983) Spartakiad of the peoples of the USSR
- Winner of the USSR Cup 1969
- Champion of the Universiade-73
- The owner of KECh 1968-75, 1977, 1981-1982
- Cup Winner Lilian Ronchetti 1987
- She was awarded the Orders of Lenin (1985), the Red Banner of Labor , Friendship of Peoples , the Order of Three Stars (the highest award of Latvia), the Order of Friendship ( Russia , 12/21/2006) [6] .
Notes
- ↑ Ulyana Semenova: Woman-legend of Soviet basketball
- ↑ Kozina A. Latvia raises money for the rehabilitation of the legendary basketball player - Rossiyskaya Gazeta , October 5, 2007
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Vlad Fedotov . The legend of world basketball Ulyana Semenova celebrates the 67th anniversary of Sputnik (March 9, 2019).
- ↑ 1 2 Languageless A. [1] - “ Sport-Express ”, November 28, 2006
- ↑ The Biggest Man Archived February 27, 2010 on Wayback Machine - biggest.su
- ↑ Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 21, 2006 No. 1438 “On awarding the Order of Friendship”
Source
- Genkin, Zinovy Aronovich. Basketball: Directory / Auto-Comp. Z. A. Genkin, E.R. Yakhontov. - M.: Physical education and sport, 1983.- 224 p.