A lot of the time, athletes are so successful within their sport because of how their body is built. For example, Michael Phelps is known for having the "perfect swimmers body" because of his wide arm span, extra-long torso, and double-jointed elbows. That doesn't mean that he didn't work hard for his Olympic medals, but he did have some natural gifts. Sometimes, an athlete can have an incredible body structure that should technically work against them in their sport but sometimes does the opposite.
Some of these athletes are extremely tall and thin, others are short and wide. Some have a body type that is so outlandish that people doubted their ability to play the sport that they wanted, and they proved them wrong. Also, no, not every extremely tall person has to play basketball...
Morteza Mehrzad - 8’1”
Morteza is the tallest Paralympian in history, and easily one of the tallest athletes out there. He’s heavily involved with Iran’s national sitting volleyball team and helped his team score the gold in the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
Acromegaly
Not only is he the tallest man in Paralympian history, but he’s also the tallest man in Iran and the second tallest man alive. Morteza has acromegaly, which causes too much growth hormone in his body.
Gheorghe Muresan - 7’7” 325 lb
This guy will block any shot, any day. Born in Romania, Gheorghe moved to the US to continue his basketball career in the NBA. He played for the Washington Bullets, the New Jersey Nets, and the Maryland Nighthawks as the Center.
Abnormally Tall
In Gheorghe’s case, his height was not hereditary whatsoever. His parents were of “normal height” and it was discovered that Gheorghe's height is attributed to a pituitary gland disorder. He retired back in 2006 after 15 years of playing basketball professionally.
Manute Bol - 7’7” 201 lbs
Every basketball team needs a giant on their side to block the shots! Manute Bol was the NBA MVP with his huge 7’7” stature. Unfortunately, shot-blocking was his strongest skill, and he wasn’t much help anywhere else on the court.
All in the Family
Manute had an extensive 11-year career in the NBA before heading into retirement. After he retired, he used his name to speak up for human rights and refugee aid in Sudan. His son, Bol, has recently joined the NBA. He’s not as tall as his dad, coming in at 7’2”, but he’s still an important shot-blocker!
Yao Ming - 7’6” 310 lbs
Yao Ming was born in Shanghai, China and started his basketball career as a teenager with the Shanghai Sharks. He signed with the Houston Rockets in 2002 and was able to reach the NBA Playoffs four times with them. Not only was he known as the tallest NBA player during his career, but he was also known for his incredible stats.
Retirement Due to Injury
In 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball. At 30 years old, his intense basketball career garnered some rough injuries to his feet and ankles. He was forced to miss 250 games over six seasons because of it due to his larger-than-life stature. In 2016, he was announced as the President of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Chuck Nevitt - 7’5” 216 lbs
As a 12 season vet, Chuck was extremely notable for his massive stature. He ranks among some of the tallest NBA players, but he wasn’t just a shot-blocker! He had a lot of other talents on the court that made him pretty respectable as a player.
Multiple Careers
Chuck mainly played with Houston but also spent time with Chicago, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Detroit. After he retired, he wasn’t going to settle quietly. He became a juggler, actor, and even dabbled in carpentry and stripping. He’s a man of many talents!
Andre The Giant - 7’4” 520 lbs
Andre Roussimoff became Andre The Giant when he became a WWF world champion. Born in Grenoble, France, he spent a majority of his early years working on his parent’s farm. His gigantism became apparent when he hit 6’3” at 12 years old. In 1966, Andre began to wrestle in Paris. In 1971, he made his way to Canada, where his career took off. His huge stature became a focal point, as well as his wrestling abilities.
Wrestler and Actor
Not only was Andre a great wrestler, but he was known for his acting, too. Most people nowadays would know him best as Fezzik in The Princess Bride. After an extensive career and whirlwind life (including alcoholic tendencies and notorious absentee parenting to his daughter), he passed away in 1993 at the age of 46 due to congestive heart failure.
Margo Dydek - 7’2” 223 lbs
Margo’s height was completely genetic. Her father was 6’7” and her mother was 6’3”. Her older sister, Katarzyna, is 6'7" in and her younger sister is 6’6”. All of the sisters had pretty accomplished basketball careers, but Margo was the only one to move into the states and garner multiple wins for the WNBA.
Early Death
Margo holds the title for the tallest professional female basketball player in the world. Unfortunately, that comes with health problems. In 2011, while she was pregnant with her third child, she went into cardiac arrest. She died eight days later on May 27th, 2011.
Shaquille O’Neal - 7’1” 325 lbs
We all know about Shaq. He’s the giant basketball player that made a name for himself through his 19-year basketball career. He won Rookie of the year in 1993, 4 NBA championships, and even a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics.
Retirement is Good
Shaq retired from his NBA career, but that doesn’t mean he’s slowed down. We can still see Shaq on TV with tons of endorsement deals and as a sports analyst on TNT. He’s most popular for his Gold Bond and The General Insurance commercials.
Dalip Singh Rana - 7’1” 347 lbs
Better known a The Great Khali, Dalip has had an incredible career since 2000. By 2007, he became the first Indian world champion in WWE history. He also dabbled in acting quite a bit, starring in four Hollywood films, two Bollywood films, and a few TV shows.
He Attracts Drama
Not only is he an accomplished wrestler, but he’s also one to start and participate in WWE drama. Dalip had famous feuds with tons of popular wrestlers and never backs down from a fight. He isn’t retired but he’s taken a step back from the WWE scene quite a bit. He currently resides in Texas as a naturalized citizen.
Stefan Struve - 7’ 265 lbs
You do not want to meet this guy in the ring. He’s not called “The Skyscraper” for nothing. Stefan is a Dutch mixed martial artist who has always been involved with sports. When he was a teenager, he was a star football player. Then, when he turned 17, he decided to step into the MMA world.
Successful Career
Over his career, Stefan has fought 40 matches and won 29 of them. In 2013, he was unfortunately diagnosed with a leaking aortic valve and an enlarged heart. He decided to take a brief break so that he would be able to heal. He competed in one season in 2019 and then announced his retirement. Health is more important.
Richard Sligh - 7’
Richard Sligh was the only NFL player to ever reach 7’ tall. Weirdly enough, he only played a total of eight games. He was a reserve for the Oakland Raiders, so he didn’t get a lot of game time.
Very Short Career
He graduated from Newberry High School and played college football at North Carolina Central University. He made Dean’s List and was a Biology major with a Chemistry minor. He was welcomed to the NFL due to his high grades and excellent performance on the football field. He was chosen in the 10th round of the 1967 NFL Draft.
Nikolai Valuev - 7’ 328 lbs
At first, Nikolai was a boxer. He made waves in the boxing community due to his huge stature and killer punch. He is the tallest and heaviest world champion in boxing history. He won the WBA heavyweight title twice and retired after taking a loss by David Haye in 2009. He was only defeated twice in his extensive career.
It’s all Politics
Nowadays, you can find Nikolai at the State Duma. One of the more famous bills he pushed was the adoption of Russian orphans by US citizens. He’s also got a bit of a tongue… His reaction to Russia being suspended from the Olympics was not very sportsmanlike. In fact, he said that Russians should tear everyone apart to spite these bastards who want to kill our sport."
Ivo Karlovic - 6’11”
It’s not very surprising to see that Ivo can serve at 156 mph. At nearly 7 feet tall, his height helps the trajectory by using that force to hammer it down. He holds the record for the most aces in tennis history, clocking in at 13,060 aces in 662 matches. Needless to say, he’s had quite a successful career.
Getting Better With Old Age
Ivo is still playing tennis. In fact, he was named the oldest ATP finalist since 1977 when he played against teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime. Ivo was the oldest player and Felix was the youngest, oddly enough. They went head to head, and Ivo beat Felix.
Jon Rauch - 6’11” 290 Pounds
Being super tall paves the way for breaking a lot of records! Jon Rauch is easily the tallest player in MLB history. In 2004, he broke the record for the tallest man to hit a home run in MLB history. Baseball statistics, man—never dull.
Retiring From Baseball
The 2014 MLB season was Jon Rauch’s last. He had signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals but was released in March. He played with eight major league teams in his career.
Randy Johnson - 6’10” 225 lbs
Not only is Randy Johnson known as one of the largest athletes in the MLB, but he’s also one of the most accomplished. He casually tosses 100 mph fastballs like it’s nothing, and that’s not easy.
Record Holder
He holds other records on top of being the largest MLB player. In 2004, he became the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game. A perfect game is pitching a complete game without having a runner reach a base. Only 23 pitchers have had a perfect game since 1880.
Troy Jackson - 6’10” 500 lbs
It’s pretty unusual to see a basketball player overweight, but Troy Jackson defied the odds. He enamored fans of basketball everywhere because of his size, but he always said that it never bothered him. He was a member of the AND1 Mixtape Tour.
Early Death
Unfortunately, his promising career was cut short when he passed away in his sleep. After an autopsy was performed, his cause of death was officially a hypertensive heart disease. He was only 35.
Zdeno Chara - 6’9” 250 lbs
Hockey is already a very intense sport with a lot of physical contact, so when you have a guy who is almost 7 ft tall hurdling at you on the ice, you probably want to get out of his way! Zdeno Chara is also known for having the hardest slapshot in the NHL, clocking in at a whopping 108.8 mph. You do not want to get hit with that.
Tallest Man
Zdeno was originally born in Czechoslovakia. He’s the tallest man in the NFL, the second European to win the Stanley Cup, and the oldest active NHL player. He’s currently playing with the Boston Bruins.
Emanual Yarbrough - 6’8” 882 lbs
Emanual was the heaviest living athlete of all time at one point. Unfortunately, this was due to the fact that he had an unhealthy relationship with food and would consistently say that he was a prisoner in his own body. He was able to use his weight to have successful judo, wrestling, and mixed martial arts sumo careers, but his life ended when he was just 51.
Champion
Throughout his career, he won five Sumo World Championships, a second-place in Judo, and multiple martial arts fights. At the time of his death, he had been seeing an obesity specialist to try and change his diet and weight.
Matt Grevers - 6’8” 220 lbs
Being a tall swimmer is definitely a huge advantage! Especially when you’re the tallest Olympic swimmer of all time. Matt Grevers won two gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics and two gold medals in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Swimming Life
Matt attended Northwestern University in Illinois and swam for their swimming and diving team. Since his parents are from the Netherlands, Matt was entertaining the idea of representing the Netherlands on their Olympic swimming team. Ultimately, he decided to represent the United States.
Aaron Judge - 6’7” 282 lbs
Judge is pretty well-known for playing in the outfield for the New York Yankees. He was selected as the American League Rookie of the Year in 2017 and finished second for MVP. At 27, he’s already made a pretty substantial name for himself!
Team Leader
Judge is known for being a team player in more ways than one. He has rituals before, during, and after games to bring the team together. Before each game at the Yankee Stadium, he tosses 40 sunflowers in the grass before home plate. The sunflower seeds represent each player on the roster.
Jack Bacheler - 6’7” 165 lbs
Being this tall in the track and field sport is pretty convenient. Jack has very long legs allowing him to beat out his competition. It was also pretty convenient that his body weight and general body fat was pretty low… That meant he was pretty aerodynamic.
The Olympics
Bacheler was a two-time Olympian, but that didn’t come easily. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, he came down with dysentery and couldn’t compete. In the 1972 Olympics in Munich, he finished ninth in the marathon and got ill due to the differing climate.
Peter Crouch - 6’7” 165 lbs
Most soccer players barely reach over 5 feet tall… Crouch took a lot of hatred from fans just for his height. At the beginning of his career (where he was a little shaky to begin with) fans would chant “freak” at him during cames just because of how tall he was. He did stick out like a sore thumb, that’s for sure…
They Grew To Love Him
Since his rookie days, the fans have grown to love him, especially after his robotic dancing goal celebrating. His long legs and arms make a pretty entertaining robot. He only does it when he scores a really good or important goal. "It was funny at the time, but I didn't want to carry on doing it until it became unfunny. I've stopped doing it for the time being, but if I ever score a really big goal you never know."
Bryce Bennett - 6’7” 220 lbs
You’d think that being extremely tall wouldn’t bode well for a skier, but Bryce Bennett has proved everyone wrong! Many people had their doubts that the tall man would be able to participate in such a compact sport, but he was able to make it into the Olympics with his hard work and perseverance.
Olympian
During the 2018 South Korea Olympics, he was the tallest U.S. competitor. He finished in 16th place and was one of the top downhill racers in the world. He even needs specially designed ski boots.
Tayyiba Haneef-Park - 6’7” 194 lbs
Volleyball player Tayyiba Haneef-Park is well known for her athletic prowess and known for her incredible height. In high school, she was an avid volleyball and track and field athlete. She was named California Athlete of the Year in 1997.
Olympic Athlete
After high school, she famously went into the Olympics on the American volleyball team. She won silver and bronze medals throughout her six years of participating. She’s currently the Director of Basketball Administration for the UC Irvine Women’s basketball team.
Aaron Gibson - 6’6” 410 lbs
Getting tackled by a guy that weighs 410 lbs cannot be a pleasant experience. Aaron Gibson has weighed in as the heaviest professional football player ever. He was the offensive tackle for the NFL from 1999 until 2010.
Early Retirement
Unfortunately, Aaron suffered two shoulder injuries that harmed his ability to play football. Since his early retirement, he’s worked on getting healthy instead of big. He’s said that he does about 1500 crunches per day to build up muscle!
Yvetta Hlavacova - 6’4” 174 lbs
Yvetta is easily one of the tallest female swimmers in the world. She holds the world record for swimming the entirety of the English Channel in 7 hours and 25 minutes. She has had the most success in open water as opposed to indoor swimming pools.
Breaking World Records
When she broke the world record, many people asked her about the longevity of her record and how she would react when someone breaks it. Even though those questions were just weak attempts to gaslight her, she did her best to let everyone know that she welcomes the next person to break her record. Isn’t that the point?
William Perry - 6’3” 350 pounds
You know that someone is a powerhouse when their nickname is “The Fridge.” Perry was a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles. He had a pretty successful career and was able to rack up some solid wins.
Weird Records
In a funny twist, William Perry has a Super Bowl ring that’s a size 25… That’s the biggest ring size ever offered for a Super Bowl ring. To put it in perspective, the average size for a male ring is 12. He’s also the second NFL player to be a G.I. Joe action figure. Yes, the figure’s name is “The Fridge.”
Blanka Vlasic - 6’3” 163 lbs
Height is extremely important if you want to be a high jumper. Because of her uncanny abilities, Blanka has become a two-time Olympic medalist. She’s highly regarded as one of the best high jumpers out there, even after her scary health issues…
Health Issues
In the height of her career, Blanka was diagnosed with a hyperthyroid condition. She would find herself in and out of the hospital while she was competing and training. Later in her career, she had to have multiple surgeries on her Achilles tendon.
Linsday Davenport - 6’2”
While Davenport is one of the best tennis players out there, she’s also known for her incredible height. Does one have to do with the other? Who knows! Lindsey has proven time and time again that she is not one to be messed with.
Millionaire
Over her career, she earned over $22 million from her wins. She retired in 2010 after a fabulous career to focus on her family. Tennis is in her blood, so she can’t just quit it. She now works as a trainer for female tennis players.
Konishiki Yasokichi - 6’1” 633 lbs
At one point, Konishiki was the heaviest sumo wrestler of all time. He was born in Hawaii but is Japanese and Samoan. He was the first non-Japanese born wrestler to reach the second-highest rank in sumo wrestling. Even though he retired back in 1997, many sumo fans will never forget his crazy moves.
Entertainment Industry
After his sumo career, he went into the entertainment industry. He directed multiple TV shows and an anime series. He also acted in some films, including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He started the Konishiki Kids Foundation to help underprivileged children from Hawaii to experience Japanese culture since the two are usually quite intertwined.
Andy Fordham - 6’ 434 lbs
Playing darts is a bit different than the rest of these sports, but it’s still a sport! Andy Fordham is a popular English darts player who went under the name The Viking. He won the World Masters in 1999 and the World Championship in 2004.
Health Concerns
Unfortunately, Andy was also an avid drinker. In 2004, his doctor demanded that he stop drinking as his liver was only working at 25% productivity. Putting his health first, he quit drinking and lost a whopping 210 pounds. Unfortunately, he put the weight back on.
Ronnie Coleman - 5’11” 297 lbs
Ronnie Coleman is a record holder in the bodybuilding community and is widely regarded as the best bodybuilder of all time. He holds 26 titles and eight Mr. Olympia wins all while working as a police officer in Arlington, Texas.
Retirement
Coleman was bodybuilding professionally until 2009 when he retired at the age of 45. Unfortunately, it’s become evident that his harsh lifestyle is causing serious health problems. He’s gone through tons of surgeries for spinal fusions, disc decompressions, and hip replacements. His doctors have warned him that he might never walk again if he continues the sort of training that he does.
Holley Mangold - 5’8” 346 lbs
Holley has been deadlifting since 2008. She was even a member of the US Olympic Team in 2012. She’s always been interested in sports and competition. In high school, she played on the offensive line at her football teams.
On TV
She’s been featured on MTV’s True Life and The Biggest Loser. Unfortunately, she was eliminated after being on seven episodes. She’s had a very successful deadlifting career, but is now coaches the Dayton Barbell Club in Ohio.
Nataliya Kuznetsova - 5’7” 225 lbs
Even though she’s “short” she really packs a punch! She weighs in at 225 lbs of pure muscle. Nataliya holds titles in arm lifting, bench press, and deadlift. She can squat a record in 617 lbs, bench press 385 lbs, and deadlift 529 lbs.
Bodybuilding Lifestyle
Nataliya has been pretty open about her use of anabolic steroids and estrogen blockers. Those things don’t make her feats any less impressive, but it’s still good to know that she uses physical enhancements. She’s married to Vladislav Uznetsov, another professional Russian bodybuilder.
Jayne Porter - 5’4” 392 lbs
Clocking in at a whopping 392, “Klondyke Kate” is known as the heaviest professional female wrestler. All of that weight on her small stature really packs a punch! She competed against male wrestlers on World of Sport until female fighting became mainstream.
Wrestling and Pregnant
Porter always wanted to be a mother but suffered six miscarriages throughout her life. During a fight, she suffered a particularly hard punch to her stomach. When something felt wrong, she went to get checked out. Turns out, she was almost nine months pregnant with her son, Adam. He was, somehow, born as healthy as can be!