Paris Olympics 2024: Viral photos show 7¡¯4¡± French Basketballer squaring up against 5¡¯4¡± Japanese player
Twenty-year-old Wembanyama, also called Wemby and The Alien, stands at a staggering height of 2.24 m (7.4 feet), making him one of the tallest basketball players of all time.
The basketball match between hosts France and Japan in the Paris Olympics 2024 on Tuesday has gone viral on social media, not for the game's quality or any controversies but for a totally different reason.
7 feet 4 vs 5 feet 4
Since Tuesday, images and videos of French star Victor Wembanyama and Japanese player Yuki Togashi have gone viral due to their contrasting heights.
AP
Who is Victor Wembanyama
Twenty-year-old Wembanyama, also called Wemby and The Alien, stands at a staggering height of 2.24 m (7.4 feet), making him one of the tallest basketball players of all time. In contrast, Togashi, the Japanese point guard pictured with him in the viral photos, stands at a height of 1.67 m (5.4 feet).
Also read: Paris Olympics 2024: Manu Bhaker wins second bronze
REUTERS
Wembanyama is the tallest player at the 2024 Olympics, and Togashi is the shortest player among men's basketball players. Tuesday's France vs. Japan game saw the 5'4" Togashi marking the 7'4" giant, who is widely considered one of the best basketball players of this generation.
Even as Wembanyama scored 18 points to help France beat Japan 94-90, the sheer height difference between the two men had everyone's attention.
REUTERS
How social media rected
While some compared the duo to David and Goliath, others joked that to call this a mismatch was an understatement.
The CRAZIEST height difference in the Olympics ever? ? #Paris2024
¡ª BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) July 30, 2024
?? Yuki Togashi (167 cm / 5¡¯6)
?? Victor Wembanyama (222 cm / 7¡¯3) pic.twitter.com/mk8bj0KSz5
A Pair of the biggest plays from Japan today in their game against France in the Olympics!
¡ª BackBoard Sports (@BackBoardSport_) July 30, 2024
Big Block on Rudy Gobert by Hugh Watanabe
Clutch 3 from Yuki Togashi
Final Score Japan 90-94 pic.twitter.com/B3LzxHlOMc
Many also lauded Togashi and shorter players like him, who have managed to make a name for themselves in basketball, which is often considered the game of the tallest ones.
Also read: Paris Olympics 2024: These are the biggest upsets in Olympics history
AP
Tallest Basketball players of all time
The average height of basketball players is 6'6". However, the tallest basketball player of all time was Manute Bol, a Sudan-born basketball player who played in the NBA between 1985 and 1997. He stood at a height of 7'7" (2.31 m). Gheorghe Mure?an, a Romanian basketball player who also played in the NBA, had the same height as Bol ¨C 7'7".
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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