World's Tallest in Sports
Measuring Height is one of the standard fitness tests in sports. Being tall is advantageous for many sports, such as basketball, volleyball and rowing. Here are some examples of extremely tall sports people from a range of sports. See also a discussion and examples of the World's tallest and shortest people. Obviously, this information about the tallest sports people of the world may change, as the current crop of players change and people grow.
very tall Chinese basketballer Yao Ming Olympic Athletes
Many of the tall sports people competing at the Olympic Games come from the sports of basketball and volleyball. Out of all the athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games, the tallest was 2.21m Chinese basketball player Zhaoxu Zhang, and at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the tallest athlete stood at 2.18m (7' 2"), another Chinese basketball player, Muhao Li. At the Olympics, basketball is the sport with the greatest average height, the next is volleyball, then rowing. See more about The Tallest Athletes at the Olympic Games, and at the Paralympics too.
Tall Athletes Play Basketball
The current (2016) world's tallest man Sultan Kösen (251cm centimeters / 8 ft 3 in) once played basketball, but not at a professional level. One of the tallest players in the history of professional basketball is Sun Ming Ming, from Bayan in China. He stands 236 cm (7 ft 9 in) tall. He played in several American minor league teams, including the Maryland Nighthawks.
The tallest player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history is Manute Bol, a Sudanese who measured 7 feet 7 inches (231 cm) tall, who played in the NBA from 1985-1995. Of equal height was Romanian player Gheorghe Mureşan who also played in the NBA from 1993-2000. Japanese basketball player Yasutaka Okayama (7'8" / 2.34m) was picked up in the 1981 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, however, he never played in the NBA. (see NBA player size over time)
Poland's Margo Dydek is 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) tall, was the tallest professional female basketball player in the world. She played center for Connecticut Sun in the WNBA.
| Height | Height | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 245 cm | 8 ft ½ in | Suleiman Ali Nashnush | Libyan who was possibly the tallest basketball player. (b.1943 d.1991) |
| 236 cm | 7 ft 9 in | Sun Ming Ming | Player from Bayan in China. The tallest professional basketball player in the world |
| 231 cm | 7 ft 7 in | Gheorghe Mureşan | Retired Romanian professional basketball player. Tied as tallest player in NBA history. b.1971 |
| 231 cm | 7 ft 7 in | Manute Bol | Retired Sudanese professional basketball player. Tied as tallest player in NBA history. 1962–2010 |
| 229 cm | 7 ft 6 in | Yao Ming | From China. recent NBA player, retired 2011. b.1980 |
| 224 cm | 7 ft 4 in | Victor Wembanyama | Currently (2024) tallest active NBA player |
See more about body size in basketball.
All Sports
Here are some of the tallest athetes from a large range of sports.
| Sport | Height | Height | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Football | 211 cm | 6 ft 11 in | Mason Cox, Aaron Sandilands, Peter Street | Equal tallest players in the history of Australian Football League. |
| American Football | 213 cm | 7 ft 0 in | Richard Sligh | Tallest American Football player in NFL history. 1944–2008 |
| Baseball | 218 cm | 7 ft 2 in | Loek van Mil | Tallest baseball player. b.1984, from the Netherlands |
| Baseball (MLB) | 211 cm | 6 ft 11 in | Jon Rauch | Tallest Baseball player in Major League Baseball. b.1978 |
| Basketball | 236 cm | 7 ft 9 in | Sun Ming Ming | Player from Bayan in China. The tallest professional basketball player in the world |
| Basketball (NBA) | 231 cm | 7 ft 7 in | Gheorghe Mureşan and Manute Bol | Tied as tallest players in NBA history. |
| Boxing | 242 cm | 7 ft 11 in | Gogea Mitu | Romanian boxer |
| Boxing | 213 cm | 7 ft 0 in | Nikolai Valuev | Tallest title holder in Heavyweight Boxing. b.1973 |
| Cricket | 216 cm | 7 ft 1 in | Mohammad Irfan | Tallest international cricketer in the world. b.1982 |
| Golf | 197 cm | 6 ft 5.5 in | George Archer | Tallest golfer on the PGA Tour. 1939–2005 |
| Ice Hockey | 206 cm | 6 ft 9 in | Zdeno Chára | Tallest player in National Hockey League history. b.1977 |
| Kickboxing | 218 cm | 7 ft 2 in | Choi Hong-man | Tallest Kickboxer and Mixed Martial Artist. b.1980 |
| Rugby Union | 213 cm | 7 ft 0 in | Richard Metcalfe | Tallest Rugby union player in history. b.1973 |
| Soccer | 210 cm | 6 ft 10.5 in | Simon Bloch Jorgensen | A goalkeeper Germany. Tallest Association Football player ever. |
| Swimming | 209 cm | 6 ft 10 1⁄2 in | Rolandas Gimbutis | a swimmer from Lithuania. He participated in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics. National records holder. born 11 February 1981 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Weight 112 kg (247 lb) |
| Tennis | 208 cm | 6 ft 10 in | Ivo Karlović | Tallest Tennis player on the ATP Tour. b.1979 |
| Track & Field | 201 cm | 6 ft 7 in | Ingo Schultz | Tallest sprinter. b. 1975 |
| Volleyball | 218 cm | 7 ft 2 in | Aleksey Kazakov | Russian volleyball player. b.1976 |
| Weightlifting | 201 cm | 6 ft 7 in | Velichko Cholakov | Tallest Olympic weightlifter. b.1982 |
| Wrestling | 251 cm | 8 ft 3 in | Edouard Beaupré | "Willow Bunch Giant" Canadian Professional Wrestler |
Related Pages
- Procedure for measuring Height
- Examples of the World's tallest and shortest people
- Height growth charts — monitoring height changes over time
- The Tallest Olympic Athletes
- The Tallest Paralympic Athletes
- Height of all Wimbledon Champions
- More Fitness Testing Records and other Sporting Records
- Sporting records from the Guinness World Records
- Converting cm to ft and in and vice versa.
- More Records? I scan the internet for the latest athlete results. If you know of something I have missed, it would be great to hear from you.
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