The Most Famous

VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS from Russia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Russian Volleyball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 199 Volleyball Players, 13 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the 4th most number of Volleyball Players behind Brazil, and Serbia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russian Volleyball Players of all time. This list of famous Russian Volleyball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russian Volleyball Players.

Photo of Vyacheslav Zaytsev

1. Vyacheslav Zaytsev (1952 - 2023)

With an HPI of 51.98, Vyacheslav Zaytsev is the most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Zaytsev (Russian: Вячеслав Алексеевич Зайцев, 12 November 1952 – 12 June 2023) was a Russian volleyball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1976, 1980, and the 1988 Summer Olympics. He was a setter. In 1976, Zaytsev was part of the Soviet team that won the silver medal in the Olympic tournament in Montreal. Zaytsev became the team captain in 1977 and played a major role in helping the Soviet Union become a dominant team in the late 1970s to early 1980s. He won gold medals in the 1977 FIVB World Cup in Japan, 1978 FIVB World Championship in Italy, 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, 1981 FIVB World Cup in Japan, and 1982 FIVB World Championship in Argentina. In the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow, Zaytsev led the Soviet team to the gold medal by defeating the United States in the final. In 1988, Zaytsev was a member of the Soviet team that won the silver medal in the Olympic tournament in Seoul. Among his achievements, Zaytsev also led the Soviet Union to six European Championship gold medals. In 2013, Zaytsev was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Photo of Yuri Chesnokov

2. Yuri Chesnokov (1933 - 2010)

With an HPI of 44.93, Yuri Chesnokov is the 2nd most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Yuri Borisovich Chesnokov (Russian: Юрий Борисович Чесноков; 22 January 1933 – 30 May 2010) was a Russian volleyball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1964 Summer Olympics. He was born in Moscow. Chesnokov was a two-time world champion, having won gold at the 1960 and the 1962 competitions. In 1964, he was part of the Soviet team which won the gold medal in the Olympic tournament. He played eight matches. After his active career, he coached the Soviet team at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, and later served as a FIVB vice-president for many years. In 2000, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Photo of Yekaterina Gamova

3. Yekaterina Gamova (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 44.05, Yekaterina Gamova is the 3rd most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Yekaterina Aleksandrovna Gamova (Russian: Екатерина Александровна Гамова; born 17 October 1980) is a Russian retired volleyball player. She was a member of the Russian national team that won the gold medals at the 2006 and 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championships, and the silver medal in both the Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Due to her stature and dominance at the net, she has been hailed as the "Queen of Volleyball". She is 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) tall with EU size 49 feet, making her one of the tallest female athletes in the world. She is also the second highest paid female player in professional volleyball history. Her role was outside hitter/opposite.

Photo of Maksim Mikhaylov

4. Maksim Mikhaylov (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 37.65, Maksim Mikhaylov is the 4th most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Maxim Mikhaylovich Mikhaylov (Russian: Максим Михайлович Михайлов, IPA: [mɐˈksʲim mʲɪˈxaɪ̯ɫəf]; born 19 March 1988) is a Russian professional volleyball player, a member of the Russia men's national volleyball team and Russian club VC Zenit-Kazan, gold medalist at the Olympic Games London 2012, silver medalist at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, bronze medalist at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, gold medalist at the World Cup 2011, European Champion 2013 and 2017 and a multiple medalist of the World League.

Photo of Nikolay Apalikov

5. Nikolay Apalikov (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 36.50, Nikolay Apalikov is the 5th most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Nikolay Sergeevich Apalikov (Russian: Апаликов, Николай Сергеевич; born on 26 August 1982) is a Russian volleyball player. He was born in Orsk, Orenburg Oblast, USSR. He was a member of the Russian team that clinched the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Aleksey Kazakov

6. Aleksey Kazakov (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 34.37, Aleksey Kazakov is the 6th most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Aleksey Valerevich Kazakov (Russian: Алексей Валерьевич Казаков, born 18 May 1976) is a Russian volleyball player. He was born in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Kazakov was a member of the national team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Four years earlier in Sydney he gained the silver medal. He is 2.17 metres tall, making him one of the tallest athletes in the world.

Photo of Yelena Godina

7. Yelena Godina (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 34.28, Yelena Godina is the 7th most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Yelena Mikhailovna Godina (Russian: Елена Михайловна Година) (born 17 September 1977) is a Russian former volleyball player, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at 2006 Volleyball World Championship in Japan and the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Photo of Vadim Khamuttskikh

8. Vadim Khamuttskikh (1969 - 2021)

With an HPI of 32.85, Vadim Khamuttskikh is the 8th most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Vadim Anatolyevich Khamuttskikh (Russian: Вадим Анатольевич Хамутцких; 26 November 1969 – 31 December 2021) was a Russian volleyball player, who was a member of the men's national team that won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and the 2007 European Championship in Moscow, Russia. There he was named Best Setter of the tournament. Khamuttskikh also competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where Russia claimed the bronze medal by defeating the United States in the play-off for the third place, and at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He died on 31 December 2021, at the age of 52.

Photo of Aleksandr Volkov

9. Aleksandr Volkov (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 30.57, Aleksandr Volkov is the 9th most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov (Russian: Александр Александрович Волков; born 14 February 1985) is a former Russian volleyball player, a member of Russia men's national volleyball team. He was 2012 Olympic Champion, bronze medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games, gold medalist of the 2011 World Cup, silver medalist of the 2007 European Championship, multimedalist of the World League. Recently he is a head coach of Belogorie.

Photo of Sergey Grankin

10. Sergey Grankin (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 30.48, Sergey Grankin is the 10th most famous Russian Volleyball Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Sergey Yuryevich Grankin (Russian: Сергей Юрьевич Гранкин; born 21 January 1985) is a Russian volleyball player, a former member of the Russian national team. 2012 Olympic Champion, two–time European Champion (2013, 2017), and a multiple World League medallist. At the professional club level, he plays for Fakel Novy Urengoy.

People

Pantheon has 20 people classified as Russian volleyball players born between 1933 and 1997. Of these 20, 17 (85.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Russian volleyball players include Yekaterina Gamova, Maksim Mikhaylov, and Nikolay Apalikov. The most famous deceased Russian volleyball players include Vyacheslav Zaytsev, Yuri Chesnokov, and Vadim Khamuttskikh. As of April 2024, 7 new Russian volleyball players have been added to Pantheon including Viktor Poletaev, Valentin Golubev, and Irina Koroleva.

Living Russian Volleyball Players

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Deceased Russian Volleyball Players

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Newly Added Russian Volleyball Players (2024)

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