Amazon Eve
Amazon Eve has had a vast career portfolio, working as a model, an actress, and a fitness trainer. The 6’8 height trainer has us hooked with her beautiful and towering body!
Not only us but even the Australian Zoo Weekly couldn’t avert their attention when they took a look at the dazzling height of the model. She featured on the cover of the magazine, after which her career opportunities in television boomed. Eve even starred in the American Horror Story: Freak Show and had a minor role in the American Horror Story: Apocalypse.
Brittney Griner
While you take pride in being 5'11,'' Brittney Griner is here to show you that she's the real Gulliver in a town of Lilliputs! Over two meters tall, this basketball player always stands out of the crowd because of both her height and gaming skills. The NCAA committee must feel highly proud of having her as a team member.
Those long arms and legs have helped the lady block 500 shots and procure more than 2,000 points, making her the only woman in the troop to have such a significant score. Not just winning championships at Olympics, but Brittney also endorses big-brands like Nike as well.
The Tree Man
On one sunny day, when a Twitter user posted a picture of a surprisingly charming man on the internet with the caption “This is not a man, this is a tree,” users were amazed by Danny Jones.
With an imposing height and body, Jones, a fitness trainer, garnered massive fame on social media platforms. As his rising popularity gathered friction, he quickly became an internet icon for his divine physique and extraordinary genes. The South Californian still continues to mystify his fans and has earned a new nickname, “The Fearsome Tree Man”!
Zdeno Chára
Things can sometimes get very competitive or violent on the ice hockey rink, but when you such a large frame like Zdeno Chára, you get privilege and leverage over the other not-so-tall players. The defenceman is officially called Big Z for being the tallest performer ever in the NHL.
The Slovakian born sportsman has represented his country several times in world championships and Olympics and has also brought two silver medals and uncountable trophies home. To date, he remains the only second athlete to have ever won the Stanley Cup.
Stefan Struve
The compelling height of Stefan Struve, which is said to be 7 feet, has earned him the title of the tallest fighter in the history of UFC! Struve fancied football as a kid but eventually grew a knack for mixed martial arts when his brother took him to a martial arts gym.
A few decades down the line and now Struve fights in the best fighting competition in the world. Although the martial artist has seen quite ups and downs during his career, his will and height always held a beacon of hope for the future.
Emmanuel “Tiny” Yarbrough
The towering physique of Emmanuel Yarbrough sure doesn’t do justice to that nickname! Yarbrough can be a formidable fighting competitor with a colossal size, which is perhaps why he chose wrestling as his career.
The wrestler’s weight was recorded as 828 lbs, making him the heaviest athlete alive according to the Guinness Book of World Records. With a suitably bulky body, Yarbrough tried his luck in various fighting disciplines, including sumo wrestling, mixed martial arts, and even Judo! Emmanuel wrapped up his illustrious career with a silver medal in the U.S Nationals.
Jon Rauch
Jon Rauch is the tallest member in the history of Major League Baseball, who benefits from his large physique and wins gold medals like it's child's play for him. Given his massive build, the baseball athlete is indeed a natural player!
The former sportsman was right-handed and operated from the pitcher position throughout his active years. Jon is probably the only player who has played for several MLB teams, for instance - Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, among many more. Jon's presence in the league was undoubtedly a boon for the nation!
Andre, The Giant
With a befitting nickname, Andre Rene Roussimoff made quite a name in the realm of French wrestling with an unbelievable height of 7’4! The colossal size of Andre was a consequence of a hormonal imbalance. However, the wrestler used this abnormality to his advantage and made a massive name for himself.
In 1987 and 1988, Andre won the WWF World heavyweight championship by defeating Hulk Hogan. He also had a career in the entertainment industry, having starred in the popular film The Princess Bride. Following his untimely demise, Andre now has the honor of placing in the WWF Hall of Fame - and rightfully so.
Konishiki Yasokichi
In the world of sumo wrestling, Konishiki Yasokichi is undoubtedly among the biggest rikishi ever. Over the years, he earned nicknames like Meat B***, primarily because of his massive 633 pounds weight. Traditionally, the fans of this type of wrestling were not used to witnessing overseas players in the ring. But unlike other players from outside Japan, it did not take Konishiki much time to become the victor.
Apart from that, the big fighter from Honolulu became the first foreign Yokozuna and won the top division three times. Isn’t that impressive?
Maria Sharapova
Many of you might not know that the Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova is among the tallest female athletes in the world. In the early '90s, she moved to the US with her family from Russia, and during her early years, Maria worked out hard and took care of her fitness. Thanks to her consistency, she rose to the international spotlight and earned the title of the world’s best tennis star within no time.
Besides, Maria is a constant fixture in the WTA tour. Although she has undergone several injuries in court over the years, she always makes a comeback and stuns her opponents!
Sharran Alexander
In 2013, Sharran Alexander made history when the Guinness World Records made the 448 pounds London-born the heaviest female athlete. You might also not know that Sharran is also the only woman sumo wrestler recognized by the British Federation for Sumo. You won’t believe that, initially, she was working as a nanny. One would ask, how did she manage to enter sumo wrestling?
Well, it turns out that she worked hard and did a ton of exercises in her forties. Over her years in the business, Sharran has won nearly four gold medals in international competitions!
Holley Mangold
After starting her career in 2008, Holley Mangold also represented America in the 2012 Olympics held in London. Interestingly, she is among the biggest weightlifters of all time and made it big after spending hours in fitness centers and gyms. Now, Holley holds a personal weightlifting record of 562 pounds, and we doubt that anyone will beat her anytime soon.
Currently, she coaches at the Dayton Barbell Club. Apart from that, she is not the only family member who happens to be a professional athlete. Nick Mangold, her brother made quite a name for himself when he played as a center for the New York Jets.
Jan Koller
Former professional footballer Jan Koller is known for his heading ability; no surprise when you learn that the Czech is 6ft 8”. He must find it easy to get to the ball first! Famous for his healthy physique, the star used his long legs to get around the pitch swiftly.
As the all-time top scorer for the Czech Republic team, it’s surprising to learn that Koller started out as a goalkeeper. He retired in 2008 when the Czech team did poorly in Euro 2008 but came out of retirement in 2009 to help them with World Cup 2010 qualification. However, just two months later, he retired again!
Aaron Sandilands
Despite being the equal tallest, and the second heaviest, Australian Rules8 footballer to ever play in the Australian Football League (AFL), Aaron Sandilands also managed to win the title of Best and Fairest player in his club, Fremantle*, twice!
Aaron is 6 ft 11” and weighs 262 lbs; he played as a ruckman, which was the perfect position for a footballer given his size. He retired in 2019 and became Fremantle’s specialist ruck coach. We are sure the players look up to Sandilands for several reasons, and not just his height!
Aleksey Kazakov
Height must be a significant advantage in volleyball, especially when attempting to get the ball back over the high net to score a point. The Russian volleyball star Aleksey Kazakov is 7 ft 2", so he sure is ideal!
Kazakov has represented his country twice at the Olympic Games, and his team won silver in Sydney in 2000 and a bronze in 2004, Athens. It can’t be easy for an Olympic official to award a medal to one of the tallest athletes in the world, but we are sure Aleksey must be used to bending down to speak to people!
Richard Metcalfe
Being 7 ft tall meant that former rugby player Richard Metcalfe had an average height advantage of six inches at the front of a line-out! That must have given the Scottish international player’s team the upper hand on many occasions.
Metcalfe earned 13 caps for Scotland in 2000 and 2001 and played for the Newcastle Falcons and the Northampton Saints. Both of his clubs were winners when he played for them; the Falcons won the Premiership season of 1997-98, and the Saints won the Heineken Cup in 2000. We are sure Richard's height and skill contributed to the teams’ successes!
John Daly
Known for his outrageous long drive, John Daly acquired the nickname Long John after he was believed to average a drive of over 300 yards in the 1997 season. While golf is a sport that does not require one to be ripped, many players are relatively fit and look to be in the best shape of their lives.
However, John Daly is a step away from the rest of the golfers; he weighs a whopping 216 lbs. Despite his weight, Long John has had quite a successful career on the PGA Tour, showing that size doesn't matter in golf.
Eric "Butterbean" Esch
Famously known as Butterbean, Eric Esch is an outrageously talented boxer and mixed martial artist who took the world by storm when he joined the then very new competition, the UFC. Eric was one of the most popular fighters and by miles the greatest to step in the ring, and he had a successful career, winning an impressive 77 out of 91 matches he fought in.
Eric's performances didn't stop at the ring, though; he’s appeared in several shows and movies, including Big Law: Deputy Butterman from which he got his nickname. Throughout his career, the boxer has strived to prove critics wrong, and we must say, mission accomplished!
John Krahn
We don't think we have ever seen such a colossal person at such a young age. John Krahn is only 17 and is already a towering figure, with a height of 7ft! The high school football player is on his way to becoming a star because he has the physical presence that would send shivers down any opponent's spine.
All the youngster needs to do, is put in the hard work, and the biggest man in football will soon be a force to reckon with. With his giant stature, we bet Krahn can participate in any physical sport he wants, and he will thrive in it.
Hong-Man Choi
MMA star Hong-Man Choi literally towers over almost all of those he competes against. When it comes to the fighting arts, you'll have to look very far to find another Korean who is as adept at martial arts as Choi, and this has made him a national treasure in his home country.
Not only has his skill made him a competitive legend, but it's also earned him several spots on television in his home country as a guest star and has broadened his fame and fortune even further. There is no doubt that the 'Korean Colossus' as Hong-Man is known, still has a long and illustrious career ahead of him!
Shaquille O’Neal
Some people chose sports when it was not even an accepted field of profession, and proved these generalizations entirely wrong. Born in 1972, Shaquille O'Neal played basketball since school and is also among such players who contributed to the evolution. Thank goodness, he did not let his large frame go in vain!
The legendary performer played the center position and rightfully earned his nickname The Shaq Attack. Besides having an iconic NBA career, Shaquille also became a professional sports analyst on TV. Certainly, O'Neal's wealth has soared high with time, just like his physique.
Jorge González
Even in the midst of giants, certain individuals still stand heads and shoulders above the others, pun intended. Jorge González, a famous and notorious wrestler back in the day, happens to be one of them.
Rumored to have been 8ft tall, this giant of a man would have made The Great Khali look short. As if that was not enough, El Gigante (his title in the ring) wasn’t just tall; he had the mass to back it up too! With his weight being a staggering 460 lbs, one should never imagine being trapped in a cage match with such a large being!
Rik Smits
Among many other things, we really want to ask Rik Smits how it feels to be so tall? The athlete's height is seven feet and four inches - who needs to do anything to win hearts with such a large frame?! Nevertheless, The Dunking Dutchman's NBA career has left a great impression on his fans, and his winning moves will continue to inspire young performers to learn from the maestro.
Rik stayed with Indiana Pacers for the longest time, and after he took his team to finals for two consecutive years, in 1998, the celeb was named as an NBA All-Star.
Mamadou N’Diaye
It’s one thing to be at about 8ft at your prime, but it's something else entirely to already be 7 feet 6 inches tall at just 18! This was the case with Senegalese-born basketball player Mamadou N’Diaye.
N’Diaye played college basketball for the University of Califonia, Irvine where he won several awards including the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year. After that, he was drafted into the NBA in 2016 and since then has played for clubs like Golden State Warriors, Grand Rapid Drive, and the Detroit Pistons. While he is now retired, N’Diaye is still determined to keep up with his strict fitness routine, a commendable feat indeed!
Nataliya Kuznetsova
We bet that most of you would get her age wrong. Any guesses? Well, it turns out that she is in her twenties. Interestingly, at this age, Nataliya Kuznetsova not only has several bench press, deadlifts, and arm lifting titles under her name, but the Russian bodybuilder also has European weightlifting titles for the specialties.
Given that Nataliya started gaining muscle mass at the early age of fourteen, her success as an athlete should not come as a surprise. Besides that, this powerful woman is a graduate from one of Moscow’s top universities for physical culture. That is impressive!
Randy Johnson
Compared to some of the other giants we have on this list, Randy Johnson’s 6 feet 8 inches might not look like much, but it is. After all, the average height of an American man is capped at 5 feet 9 inches, and no doubt this man would definitely make the average man feel like a teenager.
With such an impressive height, one would have thought Johnson would become a basketball player. Instead, this giant decided to go for something different - baseball, and boy did that turn out well in the end for him.
Yao Ming
Yao Ming is one Chinese basketball player you must have heard about with an unbelievable height of 7 feet 6 inches. Born in Shanghai, Ming started playing for his local team as a teenager and played for five good years.
When he was first introduced to basketball, he was known to be the tallest player in his division and helped his team reach heights unbelievable both in the CBA and NBA. Though, his career was cut short when he had a foot injury after winning the first round series of Houston Rockets in 2009, he is still known to be one of the best athletes in China and USA.
Mohammad Irfan
Mohammad Irfan is a cricketer who’s been a fixture of the Pakistani national team for the last few years. He’s a 7’1 tall giant and is reputedly the tallest guy ever to play international cricket. Irfan is quick for his size, and on the field, puts his large physique and power to good use.
While the cricket star has had a good career so far, he is not playing internationally anymore following his suspension from the national team. Anyway, the guy sure has the kind of towering personality you can’t help but appreciate!
Nikolai Valuev
For most of us, a very excellent way of seeing what real pain and suffering looks and feels like would be to lace on gloves and step into a boxing ring for a 12-round match with Nikolai Valuev! A hulking, 7-foot tall brute with hands the size of a barn door and a punch that’s about as powerful as a tornado, Nikolai is not the kind of guy to play around with!
He is reputedly the tallest and heaviest boxing champ in modern times, and so good he won 50 of his 53 professional fights. Max respects!
Gheorghe Muresan
While retired Gheorghe Muresan didn’t earn a seat on the bench of most successful basketball players ever, he had a title he didn’t need to fight for. At 7’7 (2.31m), Gheorghe stands as one of the two tallest players to have ever played basketball in the history of the NBA. His physique also shows that the workout routines must have been out of this world.
Nonetheless, Gheorghe’s title didn’t end on the court, in fact, he is known today as the tallest person in the whole of the European Union. If we had a height like his, we’d have reached all our goals a long time ago.