Staņislavs Lugailo

Staņislavs Lugailo was a volleyball player who first represented the Soviet team in the late 1950s. Before taking up volleyball Lugailo was a talented athlete who played football and basketball, and took part in track and field athletics. He was a member of the Soviet team that won the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics but he did not play in any matches during the tournament. Domestically he played for the Radiotechnik team in Rīga, winning two silver medals (1965–66) and two bronze medals (1968–69) in the USSR Championship. In 1969 Lugailo moved to Donetsk, playing for the men’s volleyball team until 1973, before going on to coach the women’s team in 1976.

From 1991 to 1996 Lugailo went to Manila where he was the head coach of the men’s and women’s volleyball teams in the Philippines. Under his leadership the women’s team won the gold medal at the 1993 Southeast Asian Games. After his spell in Asia he returned to Donetsk in 1996 to coach the women’s team with the side reaching the Super League stage of the Ukrainian Championship. In 2013 Lugailo was awarded the honorary title of Honoured Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of Ukraine.