Jaak Lipso

Jaak Lipso is a Soviet and Estonian basketball player. World champion (1967), three-time European champion (1963, 1965, 1967), silver (1964) and bronze (1968) medalist of the Summer Olympic Games. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Lipso was born in Tallin, Soviet Union. As a child, he was fond of many sports at the same time: Swimming, athletics, tennis, and horseback riding. Participated in numerous competitions and won prizes. At the age of 16, he began attending basketball training, eventually choosing this particular game. In SKA (Riga) Lipso won his first medal of the USSR championship in 1961, but stayed there for a short time, soon moving to Moscow. In 1962-1969 he was a player of BC CSKA (Moscow). In 1963, he made his debut as part of the USSR national team at the European Championships in Wroclaw, Poland, where he became the champion. In the same year, as part of the Moscow men's team, he became the winner of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. In 1966 he was recognized as the best center of the USSR. In 1967 he became the winner of the European Championship and the World Championship. Lipso was distinguished by special plasticity, beauty of movement. Spectators specially went to see him. In 1989-1994 he worked in Tallin as the director of the sports hall "Kalev". In 2010, he was inducted into the Estonian Basketball Hall of Fame.