The legend who went from dominating basketball to living bedridden has died.

BarcelonaThe legendary Uliana Semionova, the Latvian player who revolutionized women's basketball with her 7-foot frame in the 1970s and 80s in the USSR, died on Friday at the age of 73, as confirmed by the Latvian Basketball Federation. Semionova suffered from acromegaly, a disorder caused by an excess of growth hormones that led to painful physical problems in her joints, exacerbated by her 285 pounds.

The final chapter of her life was terrible. Semionova, the player with the most titles in the history of women's basketball, underwent multiple surgeries, had a foot amputated, and was forced to spend most of her time bedridden. Some of her former teammates and rivals raised funds to try to help her financially during her disastrous end.

"What impressed me most wasn't her height, but that she could handle anything on the court. She was impossible to defend. What impressed me most were the awful things the crowd yelled at her from the stands. It was as if a giant had arrived and people were treating it like a circus," recalls Carme Lluveras, coach and analyst for Catalunya Ràdio, to ARA.

Born on March 9, 1952, in Zarasai, Latvia, into a farming family that didn't even have electricity at home, Semionova won two Olympic gold medals with the Soviet national team (Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980). She also won three World Championships (1971, 1975, and 1983) and ten consecutive European Championships (from 1968 to 1985). With her team, TTT Daugava Riga, she was an eleven-time European champion (from 1968 to 1982), won 15 league titles, and a Ronchetti Cup (1987). Semionova, often compared to Vladimir Khachenko, marked a turning point in the history of basketball. Since her debut at age sixteen in the USSR national team, with which she was virtually invincible during the eighteen years she wore the jersey (1968-1986), she became an iconic player.

In the 1987-88 season, at 35 years old and nearing the end of her career, she signed with Tintoretto, Getafe's reserve team, with whom she finished as league runner-up. On the eve of the fall of the Iron Curtain, Semyonova was the first major Soviet athlete able to leave her country to play abroad.

The negotiations dragged on for months and included a payment of four million pesetas (around 24,000 euros), but most of the money from the transaction went to Goskomsport, a Russian committee that only gave him a token salary, leaving him penniless. The club president, Antonio Jareño, had to bring him food at home.

Despite playing with a limp, she scored 22 points and grabbed 31 rebounds in her first game. Uliana, who only spoke Russian, needed an interpreter to communicate with her coach and teammates, who joked with her by making her learn Spanish swear words. The buzz surrounding her was so great that her presentation was held at El Corte Inglés department store and even featured in a magazine. Hello He wrote a report about it.

The Spanish adventure lasted only half a year. At the end of the 1988-89 season, she signed with the French club Valenciennes d'Orchies, where she ended her playing career and returned to Latvia, where she became the coach of the national basketball team and vice-president of the Olympic Committee.

"The most decisive player"

Semionova was the first non-American player to enter the Hall of Fame and also became part of the International Federation (FIVA) Hall of Fame and the Spanish Federation (FEB), which considered her "the most decisive player in the history of women's basketball worldwide."

FIBA expressed its condolences for the passing of the legendary player and highlighted her sporting career. "We will miss her deeply, but we will never forget her, for having left a mark on basketball like few others. Semionova's legacy is undoubtedly unique and will hardly be repeated," FIBA ​​stated.

Latvia has suffered another great loss: the passing of sports legend Uliana Semionova. The young rising star of Olympic, world, and European basketball was a very warm and helpful person, declared Edgars Rinkevics, President of Latvia.