20+ Massive Athletes, Including The Largest In The World

When it comes to sports, size does matter...usually. And these athletes win on sheer size alone. Let's find out who is the largest athlete of all time, and how big they really are.

People often forget that Maria Yuryevna Sharapova is actually one of the tallest female tennis players in the game. Born in Russia, she moved to the U.S. in the early 90s and since 2001, worked hard at her local gym and fitness center and has been a consistent fixture in the WTA tour. Her career can be summed up as somewhat of a paradox. Although her time on the court has been marred by numerous injuries, she has made multiple comebacks and is still playing professionally to this day.

There is no doubt that former basketball player Margo Dydek worked out a lot to achieve so much in the WNBA. The woman from Warsaw, Poland was officially the tallest professional player to grace the court. She'll be best remembered for playing center position for the Connecticut Sun. Later on in her career, she worked in the Queensland Basketball League, coaching the Northside Wizards. Tragically, Dydek passed away on May 27, 2011. She had suffered a heart attack a week beforehand and was in the early stages of pregnancy with her third child.

One of the biggest athletes of the modern era has made a name for himself through social media and is referred to as "The Fearsome Tree Man." The story behind the name is pretty simple. A user on Twitter noticed a picture of the 6'7 man with a personal trainer certification and compared his stature to that of a huge tree. "This [is] not a man, this [is] a tree," the user tweeted. Danny Jones from Southern California must be thoroughly happy with his recent publicity.

Another athlete to have reached 8ft in his life was the Argentinian-born Jorge Gonzalez, who was a wrestler in his heyday. Known by his ring name El Gigante, Gonzalez ended up working out a ton to get into the most iconic ring of them all, the WWE. He burst onto the scene as Giant Gonzalez at 1993's Royal Rumble, eliminating The Undertaker in the process. However, it was Taker who got the last laugh when he got revenge on El Gigante at WrestleMania IX.