The most famous Latvian basketball player Uļjana Semjonova marks 70th birthday on Wednesday, March 9.
Semjonova spend her childhood in southeast Latvia, just next to Lithuania. When she was 13 years old, she was invited to join TTT – the best Latvian and Soviet club team at the time.
The rest is history. Semjonova became the most dominant center in the history of the game at the club and national team level.
TTT didn`t suffered a single defeat in European competitions from 1966 until February 24, 1983, winning 115 consecutive games and many titles (Soviet teams didn`t played in 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1980).
Semjonova also dominated the international scene, while representing the Soviet Union. She is a two-time Olympic champion (Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980).
The life hit hard. She was kicked out of the Soviet team in the late 80s, without even receiving a call from the front office. Semjonova played a couple of seasons in France and Spain before calling a day.
Semjonova became the first European player to enter the James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. She was also included in the inaugural class of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.
Happy birthday, Uļjana!
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