Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Video Credit: CEN/@ekaterina_lisina15
This 6’7” former basketball player who once snapped up the Guinness World Record for having the world’s longest legs has said that Britis are clever and that the UK accent makes her smile after she returned from filming in London.
Former professional basketball star Ekaterina Lisina, 32, recently slammed UK TV bosses for only caring about her modelling pins rather than her sporting career on a recent trip she made to the British capital saying the “industry is not interested in my sports career, only my modelling”.
In an exclusive interview with Golder’s News and Sport, Lisina says she plans on returning to the UK soon and said: “I love the British accent, it makes me smile all the time. It is completely different from American English.
“I like this country very much: the culture is very nice, people are also very nice, I have a lot of fans from the UK” citing Brits as “nice, smart and gentle” people.
She is currently not dating anyone but admitted she is open to the idea of dating a British man or any other foreigner saying: “As long as you like a person, especially if he speaks English, then it is not a problem for me.”
However, she said she would not like to live in England noting the weather as a cause saying: “I don’t like rain too much, I don’t think that Britain can be on the list of the countries where I would like to live.
“Also modelling is not that popular in London as far as I know. I have many fans but not from the modelling industry there.”
She admitted that female professional sport has a lot fewer viewers than male sports and that “women’s basketball is not really popular. Not many female athletes go to TV shows.”
The former athlete went on to speak about her life after basketball and noted that media attention, as well as people’s interest, can be navigated saying: “Generally, I believe that you have to create your image, and you have to make people be interested in you.
“This is what I am basically doing at the moment, I am building my own agency and my own empire, Tall Empire.”
When asked about sexism in Britain she started laughing and underlined that she has never heard that to be an issue there and says she has never had any problems with that in the UK.
Lisina finally said she is not interested in returning to professional sports but would consider taking up a manager position to help her eight-year-old son.
Lisina comes from a family of basketball players and managers from the western Russian city of Penza.
Her mother used to play for the local Spartak team, her dad was a professional basketball trainer and her brother stands at a lofty 6’6”.
Lisina, who is divorced and raises her eight-year-old son alone, is reportedly 205.16 centimetres (6’73”) tall and held the Guinness World Record for having the longest legs (4’3”) and is the world’s tallest professional model.
Lisina has been to London twice, first for the Guinness World Record in September 2017 and recently for a project that she kept secret.
She won the Olympic bronze with Russia in 2008. She also won gold in the European Championships in 2007 and silver in 2009.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
