Uljana Semjonova

Uļjana Larionovna Semjonova (; 9 March 1952 – 8 January 2026) was a Soviet-Latvian basketball player.Uļjana Semjonova . sports-reference.com Her career lasted from 1968 until 1989. She was known for playing with TTT Riga and the Soviet Union national women's team. She won two Olympic gold medals: one in 1976 and another in 1980.

Career
Her height was .Tancredi Palmeri: Semionova sempre gigante "Dico solo grazie allo sport" (http://www.gazzetta.it/Sport_Vari/Basket/Estero/Primo_Piano/2009/01/03/semionova.shtml). La Gazzetta dello Sport, retrieved 26 April 2011 Semjonova was the leading women's basketball player in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. She was known for having the largest feet ever in women's basketball.Gazzetta dello Sport, Photoserie Comparison with Bill Russell's footprint (size 16 US / size 52 EU),Photoserie  

She mainly played for TTT Riga, which was part of Daugava Voluntary Sports Society. With TTT, she won 15 championships in the Soviet Union and the European Champion's Cup 15 times. Semjonova also won two Olympic gold medals while playing for the USSR in 1976 and 1980 and never lost a game in official international competition.

In 1976, Semjonova was honored with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. In 1993, she became the first non-U.S. woman honored into the Basketball Hall of Fame. She was also the first member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, when she was honored in 1999.

Later life
In 2017, she had heart surgery and was hospitalized for a fall. In 2022, she had her leg amputated and her health got worse.

Semjonova died on 8 January 2026 in Riga, Latvia at the age of 73.

References

Other websites



 Uljana Semjonova, the Soviet paving roller of 2,13 meters www.abc.es/historia (Spanish)


 Hoopedia bio

Category:1952 births
Category:2026 deaths
Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
Category:Latvian sportspeople
Category:Soviet basketball players