Basketball and court team sports

Yekaterina Marennikova

Yekaterina Marennikova (Екатерина Маренникова), born 1982 in Leningrad, is a Russian handball player, 2016 Olympic champion and 2008 silver medalist, 2005 world champion, later a Lada Togliatti coach.

Yelena Akhaminova

Yelena Akhaminova (Елена Рабиговна Ахаминова, later Sokolovskaya), born 1961, Soviet volleyball player; 1980 Moscow Olympic gold medalist, 1979 European champion, later coach of Dynamo-Zhinestra Odessa in Ukraine.

Yelena Andreyuk

Yelena Andreyuk (Елена Андреюк, later Chesnokova), born 1958 in Tula, Soviet volleyball player; 1980 Moscow Olympic champion with the USSR and 1979 European champion with Uralochka Sverdlovsk.

Yelena Baranova

Yelena Baranova (Elena Baranova, Елена Викторовна Баранова), Russian basketball player born 1972 in Bishkek; 1992 Olympic gold with the Unified Team, 2004 bronze, 1998 World Championship MVP, and first European player in the WNBA (Utah Starzz, Miami Sol, New York Liberty).

Yelena Khudashova

Yelena Anatolyevna Khudashova (Елена Анатольевна Худашова), Russian basketball center born 1965 in Khabarovsk; Olympic gold 1992 with the Unified Team, bronze 1988 with the USSR, sixth 2000 with Russia; three EuroBasket golds.

Yelena Shvaybovich

Yelena Shvaybovich (Yelena Petrovna Shvaybovich, nee Ksenzhik), Belarusian basketball guard born 1966 in Minsk; 1992 Barcelona Olympic gold with the Unified Team; later general director of BC Rostov-Don.

Yelena Tornikidu

Yelena Tornikidu (Elena Tornikidou, Елена Андонисовна Торникиду), born 1965 in Tashkent, is a basketball forward who won 1992 Olympic gold with the Unified Team, EuroBasket gold 1987 and 1989, and played for the WNBA's Detroit Shock 1999-2001.

Yevgeny Lapinsky

Yevgeny Valentinovich Lapinsky (Евгений Валентинович Лапинский), Soviet volleyball spiker, 1968 Olympic champion and 1972 bronze medalist, World Cup 1965 winner, two-time European champion with Burevestnik Odessa.

Yi Jianlian (易建联)

Yi Jianlian (易建联), Chinese 7-foot power forward born 1987, sixth pick of the 2007 NBA Draft (Bucks, Nets, Wizards, Mavericks), 7-time CBA champion with Guangdong, four-time Olympian, retired August 2023.

Yogi Ferrell

Yogi Ferrell (Kevin Ferrell, born 1993) is an American point guard from Indianapolis; Indiana University record holder, undrafted 2016, Dallas Mavericks All-Rookie, now KK Budućnost VOLI and Montenegro national team.

Yoko Fujimoto

Yoko Fujimoto (藤本 (-内田)•佑子), Japanese volleyball player born 1943 in Hiroshima; Nichibo Kaizuka club member who won gold with Japan in women's volleyball at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, her only Games. Not the ice hockey player Moeko Fujimoto.

Yoko Shinozaki

Yoko Shinozaki (篠崎洋子, later Tamura), born 1945, Japanese volleyball outside hitter with Nichibo Kaizuka; won gold in women's volleyball at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and at the 1962 and 1967 World Championships.

Yokohama B-Corsairs

Yokohama B-Corsairs (横浜ビー・コルセアーズ), Yokohama professional basketball club founded 2011, bj-league champion 2012-13, B1 member, home arena Yokohama BUNTAI, entering B.LEAGUE PREMIER 2026-27.

Yolanda Griffith

Yolanda Griffith (born 1970) is an American basketball Hall of Famer, 1999 WNBA MVP, 2005 champion and Finals MVP with Sacramento, and two-time Olympic gold medalist (2000, 2004).

Yonder Garcia

Yonder Garcia (Yonder Román García Álvarez, born 1993, Havana) is a Cuban volleyball libero, 2010 Youth Olympic gold medalist, 2016 Olympian, 2019 Pan American silver medalist, and 2023 CAC Games MVP.

Yoshiko Matsumura

Yoshiko Matsumura (松村好子, later Kanda), born 1941, Japanese volleyball left-side player for Nichibo Kaizuka; won gold in the first Olympic women's volleyball tournament at Tokyo 1964, beating the USSR in the final.

Yoshino Sato (佐藤淑乃) (volleyball)

Yoshino Sato (佐藤淑乃), born 2001, is a Japanese volleyball outside hitter: NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki star, 2024–25 SV.League Best Newcomer, 34 points in Japan's 2025 World Championship third-place match, signed by Vero Volley Milano for 2026–27.

Yu So Jeong

Yu So Jeong (유소정, born 1996) is a South Korean handball right back for SK Sugar Gliders; 2014 Youth Olympic gold, 2016 Olympian, and 2018 Asian Games champion.

Yuan Xinyue

Yuan Xinyue (袁心玥), Chinese middle blocker born 1996 in Chongqing; 2016 Olympic volleyball gold medalist, three-time Olympian (2016, 2020, 2024), and captain of the China women's national volleyball team from 2022.

Yuji Nishida (西田有志)

Yuji Nishida (西田有志, born 2000) is a Japanese left-handed opposite spiker, 186 cm, for Osaka Bluteon and Japan; 2019 World Cup Best Opposite, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 seventh place, VNL 2026 top scorer.

Yūki Ishikawa (石川祐希)

Yuki Ishikawa (石川祐希) is a Japanese volleyball outside hitter, born 1995, captain of Japan's men's national team and a Perugia player in Italy's SuperLega; 2019 World Cup Best Outside Hitter and 2023 VNL bronze leader.

Yukiko Wada (和田由紀子)

Yukiko Wada (和田由紀子, born 2002) is a Japanese volleyball outside hitter, 175 cm, for UYBA Busto Arsizio and Japan; Paris 2024 ninth place, 2026 Asian Games silver medalist.

Yuko Arakida

Yuko Arakida (荒木田裕子, 1954–2024), Japanese volleyball attacker and Olympic champion, won gold at Montreal 1976, the 1974 World Championship and Asian Games, and the 1977 World Cup, then led Japanese sports administration including the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee.