Belov is most remembered for scoring the game-winning basket of the gold medal game of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympic Games, which gave the gold medal to the senior Soviet national team.

It would not be until 1989, that the first Soviet player, Lithuanian-born Šarūnas Marčiulionis, would play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Belov won four gold medals with the senior Soviet Union national team.

The highlight of Belov's career occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympic Games, when he scored the game-winning basket in the Olympic Basketball Final against Team USA, which gave the Soviet Union the gold medal.

Belov was born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, on 9 November 1951.