Regla Torres
Sergey Tetyukhin
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Regla Torres leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Regla Torres at #2 and Sergey Tetyukhin at #6.
The case for Regla Torres
The finest women's player of the 20th century, as formally recognised by FIVB, and the engine of Cuba's 'Morenas del Caribe'. A middle blocker of extraordinary reach and mobility, Torres won three consecutive Olympic gold medals - Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 - a feat unmatched in indoor volleyball. She reached the biggest stage as a teenager, becoming one of the youngest Olympic volleyball champions at just 16 in 1992. Cuba also captured the World Championship in 1994 and 1998 and multiple World Cups during her reign, built on athleticism and blocking that overwhelmed taller, more methodical European sides. Torres combined a devastating quick attack with the range to close blocks on both pins, redefining what a middle could do. For most of the 1990s Cuba lost almost nothing that mattered, and Torres was its defining figure - the standard against which every middle blocker since has been measured.
The case for Sergey Tetyukhin
The embodiment of longevity and clutch performance in the men's game. Tetyukhin competed at five Olympic Games from Sydney 2000 to Rio 2016, winning four medals - bronze in 2000, 2004 and 2008 and, at last, gold in London 2012. That final is his monument: Russia, trailing Brazil two sets to none and facing match point, roared back to win 3-2, with the veteran Tetyukhin outstanding in the comeback. A tireless, technically pristine outside hitter with elite reception and defence, he also won the 2011 World Cup and multiple World League titles, and carried Russia's flag at the 2016 opening ceremony. Few players sustained top-level international form for two full decades as he did, and fewer still saved their finest hour for the biggest final of their career. His medal-laden endurance secures his place among the greatest all-round outside hitters the sport has produced.