Svetlana Pankratova facts for kids

Svetlana Pankratova is a Russian woman famous for having incredibly long legs. For a time, she held the world record for the longest legs on a woman, according to the Guinness World Records.

Svetlana Pankratova: Woman with the Longest Legs

Svetlana Pankratova was born on April 29, 1971, in Volgograd, which was then part of the Soviet Union. She became known worldwide for her unique physical feature: her legs.

Her Amazing Legs

Even though Svetlana is not the tallest woman in the world, her legs are an amazing 132 centimeters (about 52 inches) long! Her upper body is a more typical size. This means that while her legs are very long, her total height is 1.95 meters (about 6 feet 5 inches). She also has very large feet, wearing a size 13 in US sizes or 46 in European sizes.

In 2017, another Russian woman named Yekaterina Lisina surpassed Svetlana's record for the longest legs.

Basketball Star

Before becoming famous for her legs, Svetlana was a talented basketball player. She played women's basketball at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, USA, from 1992 to 1995. She was a very important player for her team.

Svetlana set two school records that are still unbroken today:

• Most career blocked shots (176 blocks from 1992 to 1995)
• Most blocked shots in a single season (75 blocks in the 1994–95 season)

Life and Records

On September 16, 2008, Svetlana appeared in Trafalgar Square in London. She was there with He Pingping, who was known as the smallest man in the world at that time. They met to help promote the 2009 edition of the Guinness World Records book.

Svetlana speaks Russian, English, and some Spanish. She used to live in Torremolinos, Spain. On March 11, 2013, it was reported that Svetlana moved back to Virginia in the USA. She married a local resident named Jack Gosnell. She also started working as an assistant coach for the girls' basketball team at Meridian High School.