The Georgian Basketball community experienced tragedy recently with the loss of former star Zurab Sakandelidze. They have been rocked with a new tragedy today with the news of the death of Mikheil Korkia who suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 55.

Korki, a 196cm forward, was a teammate of Sakandelidze both with club side Dinamo Tbilisi and the Soviet Union national team. His career included a gold medal in the 1968 USSR championship with Tbilisi and several national team honours.

He was a member, along with Sakandelidze, of the famous 1972 Olympic basketball team which inflicted on the USA its only defeat in Olympic basketball history. He also won a further bronze medal at the 1976 Games, as well a silver medal at the 1973 and bronze at the 1975 European Championships.