Uljana Semjonova
Uļjana Semjonova was a Latvian basketball player of Old Believer descent who competed for the Soviet Union.
Career
Semjonova was the leading women's basketball player in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. Wearing a men's size 21 / 58 shoe, she was known for having the largest feet ever in women's basketball. For almost all of her playing career, she 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 was also very dominant in international play, winning two Olympic Gold medals while playing for the USSR in [Basketball at the Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Summer Olympics|1976] and 1980 and never lost a game in official international competition.Between 1968 and 1985, she played 100 games for the Soviet Union, scoring 1614 points, committing 174 personal fouls and making 162 of 249 free throws.
Later life and death
Between 1991 and 2023, she was the head of the Latvian Olympic Social Fund, whose aim is to help retired athletes financially.Later in life, Semjonova suffered from numerous medical complications. In 2017, she had cardiac surgery and was hospitalized for a fall. In 2022, she had her leg amputated and was placed under class-2 disability.
Semjonova died on 8 January 2026, at the age of 73.