Dzidra Uztupe-Karamiševa ( ''née'' Uztupe; 2 May 1930 – 27 December 2014) was a Latvian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and coach. During her career Uztupe-Karamiševa won three

FIBA European Champions Cup The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

s and four Soviet League titles. She represented the Soviet Union national team and won four

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournaments.

Career

Uztupe was born on 2 May 1930 in

Smiltene Smiltene () is a town in the Vidzeme region in northern Latvia, 132 km northeast of the capital Riga, and the administrative centre of Smiltene Municipality. It has a population of 5,536 (2015). Name Its original name was Smiltesele (the end ...

, Latvia, and spent her youth in the

Pārdaugava Pārdaugava (literally means "Trans" or "Over" -Daugava area, formerly ) is an area most often associated with Riga, composed of several neighbourhoods on the west (left) bank of Daugava River. The name is literally translated as 'over Daugava ...

area of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. She attended the Riga Secondary School No. 5 where she took up

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. She held the Latvian record in

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

among girls and was the champion in both high jump and volleyball. Uztupe joined Daugava Riga in 1947 and played with the team until 1958. In 1958, she joined

TTT Riga TTT Rīga is a professional women's basketball club based in Riga, Latvia. "TTT" means Tram and Trolley Trust. The team held its first official game on 5 November 1958. The next 25 years are known as the ''First Golden age'' of the club. Internati ...

and served as the team's captain. She won the

three times and became a Soviet League champion in four consecutive seasons.

References

1930 births 2014 deaths Latvian Academy of Sport Education alumni Latvian women's basketball players {{Latvia-basketball-bio-stub