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written in lettetrs of goldWRITTEN IN LETTERS OF GOLDThe 1970 Basketball World ChampionshipTEXT: Andreja Zupanec BajželjPHOTOGRAPHS: Archives of the National Museum of Contemporary HistoryTekma Jugoslavija vs. ZDA /The match Yugoslavia vs USA, foto: Edi Šelhaus.An exhibition of photographsfrom the 1970 World BasketballChampionship will be on viewat the National Museumof Contemporary Historyin Ljubljana throughoutEuroBasket 2013.May 1970 is a month that will forever remain written in lettersof gold in the history of Yugoslav sport. This was the monththat Yugoslavia won the World Basketball Championship andthe Yugoslav players stood on the podium to receive theirgold medals.A rapid rise of Yugoslav basketball began to be predicted in the 1960s, startingwith the team's first Olympic appearance in Rome in 1960. The Yugoslavteam's sixth place in the overall classification was the first hint of what wasto come. In 1961 the team took the silver medal at the European Championshipin Belgrade. This was followed by a bronze medal in 1963 in Wroclaw, asilver in Moscow in 1965 and another silver in Caserta in 1969. With six silvermedals in 10 years, Yugoslavia staked its claim to a place on the podium asone of the strongest national sides in the world.Yugoslav basketball finally exploded in 1970s when the well-establishednational team, featuring players such as the veteran Ivo Daneu, Petar Skansi,Trajko Rajković and Rato Tvrdić, was joined by members of the younger generation:Vinko Jelovac, Damir Solman, Ljubodrag Simenović, Dražen Kapičić,Aljoša Žorga and Nikola Plećaš. The squad also included an outstandingplayer who had enjoyed a unique career, the great centre Krešimir Čosić (b.26 November 1948, Zagreb, d. 25 May 1995, USA), the holder of numerousrecords: no one has ever beaten his record of 305 games in the national jersey.He competed at four Olympic Games, four World Championships and nineEuropean Championships, winning 14 medals including gold medals from allthree major competitions.The 1970 Basketball World ChampionshipThe 12 countries taking part in the 6th FIBA World Championship in Yugoslaviamet for the first time in sports arenas in Split, Karlovac and Sarajevo. Thepreliminary round, which took place between 10 and 13 May 1970, saw thefirst and second ranked teams in each group progress to the final round of theChampionship, while the other teams qualified for the classification round inSkopje. Between 16 and 24 May the seven finalists – Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Italy,the Soviet Union, Uruguay, the USA and host nation Yugoslavia – competed formedals beneath the floodlights of Ljubljana's Tivoli Arena. At the betting shops,72