Lidia Alexeeva

Lidia Alexeeva took her place on the world stage during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. The Soviet national team marched straight to the gold medal game of the basketball tournament in grand fashion winning games by an average of more than 31 points per game. The repeat performance in the 1980 Moscow Olympics reinforced her reputation as one of the premier coaches in basketball. The unblemished record of Alexeeva in international competition included the first-ever gold medal in Olympic women’s basketball as well as ten first place finishes in the European Championships. Alexeeva, the coach of the Soviet national team for twenty years, ushered in the first dynasty in women’s basketball at the international level. Her teams won twenty gold medals in international competition including four first place finishes in the FIBA World Championships for Women. Alexeeva and her teams were light years ahead of the rest of the world in women’s basketball.