Alexander Alekseyevich Sizonenko ( uk, Олександр Олексійович Сизоненко; russian: Александр Алексеевич Сизоненко; 20 July 1959 – 5 January 2012) was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player. Possibly the tallest person to have ever played professional basketball, he was measured by
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
at and named the world's tallest man in 1991. Sizonenko was said to have grown since this measurement was taken, although age reduced his standing height considerably. Because of his enormous growth, his mobility was increasingly impaired.
Basketball career
Sizonenko played professionally for
Spartak Leningrad
BC Spartak Saint Petersburg is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. During the 2016–17 season, the club was named BC Kondrashin Belov (BCKB), after its former player Alexander Belov and its former head ...
(1976–1978) and for
Stroitel Kuybyshev (1979–1986).
Sizonenko was also a member of the
Soviet national team and appeared on its behalf for 12 games. While playing, Sizonenko was listed as standing at .
Personal life
Sizonenko was born in the city of
Zaporizhzhia
Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...
,
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
. He lived in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, was divorced and had a son Alexander born in 1994. In 2011 he was moved to a hospital in St. Petersburg, where he died on 5 January 2012. He was 52.
References
External links
- The Tallest Man: Alexander Sizonenko
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1959 births
2012 deaths
Sportspeople from Zaporizhzhia
People with gigantism
Soviet men's basketball players
Centers (basketball)
Ukrainian men's basketball players
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic people
{{Russia-basketball-bio-stub