Gomelsky Alexander Yakovlevich (1928-2005)

Gomelsky Alexander Yakovlevich (18 January 1928, Kronstadt – 16 August 2005, Moscow) — Honoured Coach of the USSR in basketball.

Alexander Gomelsky graduated from the Higher Coaching School at the Lesgaft Institute in Leningrad in 1948 and from the Military Institute of Physical Culture in 1952. From 1949 to 1952 he coached the Spartak Leningrad basketball team. In 1953 he relocated to Riga, where he led the CSKA Riga basketball team from 1953 to 1966. Under his guidance, the team became five‑time USSR champions and won the European Champions Cup three times (1957, 1958, 1959). Notable Latvian players he trained include Jānis Krūmiņš, Valdis Muižnieks, and Maigonis Valdmanis.

In 1966 Gomelsky moved to Moscow, becoming head coach of the Soviet Armed Forces and CSKA teams until 1988. During his tenure, CSKA won the Soviet championship more than ten times and secured multiple European Champions Cups. He helmed the USSR men's national basketball team from 1962 to 1988 (with a break from 1970 to 1976). He also coached teams in Spain, France, and the United States. In 1991–92 he served as chairman of the Russian Basketball Federation and was Olympic attaché at the 1992 Barcelona Games. In December 1997 he was appointed President of CSKA Basketball Club.

Gomelsky is credited with leading the golden era of Soviet basketball. Under his mentorship, the national team became eight‑time European champions, won the World Championships in Uruguay (1967) and Colombia (1982), and secured Olympic gold in Seoul (1988). He discovered and nurtured a host of world‑class players, including Sergei Belov, Arvydas Sabonis, Viktor Zubkov, and many others—over fifty of whom became Honoured Masters of Sport.

A Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, he was honoured as Coach of the USSR (1956), Coach of Lithuania (1982), and Merited Worker of Physical Culture of Russia (1993). He earned international refereeing credentials and was named USSR Coach of the Year in 1967, 1977, 1982, and 1988. His awards include the Orders of the Red Banner of Labour, Red Star, Friendship of Peoples, two Orders of the Badge of Honour, numerous medals, and the Olympic Order of Merit in 1998. He is honoured in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield, USA).

Gomelsky was also a popular sports commentator on Russian championships, EuroCups, and NBA matches.

His younger brother, Yevgeny Gomelsky (b. 1961 graduate of the Latvian State Institute of Physical Culture), was also a renowned coach, leading Dynamo Moscow, various international clubs, and the CIS women's national team to Olympic gold in Barcelona (1992). Alexander Gomelsky’s son, Vladimir, became a Master of Sport in basketball and a producer of sports programmes for Channel One Russia (ORT), while his other sons, Alexander and Kirill, pursued water polo and competitive swimming respectively.

Selected publications

С мячом по странам (With a Ball Through the Countries), Moscow, 1960

Будни баскетбола (Basketball Days), Moscow, 1964

Управление командой в баскетболе (Team Management in Basketball), Moscow, 1976

Vodenje ekipe u košarci, Belgrade, 1977

Вечный экзамен (The Eternal Exam), Moscow, 1978

Basketball Conquers the Planet, Moscow, 1980

Центровые (Centreforwards), Moscow, 1988

Baloncesto: la dirección del Equipo, Barcelona, 1990

Тактика и техника (Tactics and Technique), Greece, 1990

Библия баскетбола (The Basketball Bible), Moscow, 1994

Баскетбол. Секреты мастера (Basketball: Master’s Secrets), Moscow, 1997