Yekaterina Gamova

Yekaterina Aleksandrovna Gamova (; 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 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.

Career Playing with Dynamo Moscow, Gamova won silver medal at the 2008–09 CEV Indesit Champions League, and was awarded "Best scorer".

For the 2009/2010 season, she joined the Turkish team Fenerbahçe Acıbadem, and won the Turkish League Championship. The team went on to the 2010 CEV Indesit Champions League Final Four and finished second place after being defeated by Volley Bergamo. She was awarded "Best scorer".

She was a member of the Russia national team that won the 2010 World Championship and was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

After the defeat in the quarterfinals by Brazil in the 2012 Olympics she considered quitting the national team but still continued playing at club level. "I will take a break with the national team. I don't know if it will be a permanent leave, or if I will resume after a long pause."

Gamova won with the Russian club Dinamo Kazan the 2013–14 CEV Champions League held in Baku, Azerbaijan, defeating the home owners Rabita Baku 3 - 0 in the semifinals and the Turkish VakıfBank İstanbul 3 - 0 in the final. She was awarded Most Valuable Player and Best Scorer.

In May 2016, Gamova announced on Match TV and her Facebook page her wish to retire from the sports due to an injury. With that said, she won't be participating at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Family On 17 August 2012, Gamova married Russian cinematographer and producer Mikhail Mukasei, son of Svetlana Druzhinina and Anatoly Mukasei.

Clubs Avtodor-Metar (1996 - 1998) Uralochka-NTMK 2 (1998 - 2000) Uralochka-NTMK (2000 - 2003) Dynamo Moscow (2003 - 2009) Fenerbahçe Acıbadem (2009 - 2010) Dinamo Kazan (2010 - 2016)

Awards

Government Merited Master of Sports of Russia (2000) Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II class (19 April 2001) - for the huge contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, and for the huge sports destinations at the XXVII Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000 Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I class (3 October 2006) - for the huge contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, and for sports destinations Decoration of Honour for Services in the Development of Physical Culture and Sports (28 April 2016)

Individuals 2000 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best blocker" 2003 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best scorer" 2004 Olympic Games "Best scorer" 2006 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best scorer" 2007 European Championship "Best scorer" 2008–09 CEV Indesit Champions League Final Four "Best scorer" 2009–10 CEV Indesit Champions League Final Four "Best scorer" 2010 FIVB World Championship "Most valuable player" 2013–14 CEV Champions League "Most valuable player" 2013–14 CEV Champions League "Best scorer" 2014 FIVB Club World Championship "Most valuable player" 2014 FIVB Club World Championship "Best opposite spiker"

National team

Junior 1999 Junior World Championship - Gold Medal

Senior 1999 World Grand Prix - Gold Medal 1999 FIVB World Cup - Silver Medal 2006 World Championship - Gold Medal 2010 World Championship - Gold Medal

Clubs

2009 Russian Cup - Champion, with Dinamo Moscow

2009-10 Turkish Cup Championship - Champion, with Fenerbahçe Acıbadem 2009 Turkish Super Cup Championship - Champion, with Fenerbahçe Acıbadem

2010, 2012, 2016 Russian Cup - Champion, with Dinamo Kazan