Uļjana Semjonova

At 2.16 metres (7-1) and 129 kg. (285 lbs.), Uljana Semjonova helped the Soviet Union dominate women’s basketball between 1958 and 1976. During that time the Soviet Union did not lose an international game. Semjonova began playing for the national team in 1971, and them win Olympic gold medals in 1976 and 1980, and World Championships in 1971, 1975, and 1983. She also helped the Soviets to European championships in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1983. She was finally dropped from the Soviet team when, despite her great size, she was no longer able to run the guard adequately to keep up with the whippet-quick American players. In 1992 she became the first non-American woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.