What happens when a game involving the Olympics' tallest and shortest basketball players is played?
Iconic photos are taken. That's what happened during Tuesday's Group B men's basketball game between France and Japan at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, when 7'4" French center Victor Wembanyama ended up right next to 5'6" Japanese guard Yuki Togashi.
As one can imagine, the pictures, which showed Togashi in a defensive stance somewhere near Wembanyama's hip region, were memorable—and instantly went viral on social media.
Here are some of the best photos from the France-Japan game on X, formerly known as Twitter.
No edits, just 55 centimetres of height difference between these two 😳#Paris2024 x #Basketball pic.twitter.com/isetDmUK6G
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 30, 2024
Ben Golliver of The Washington Post, one of the first to point out the immense height difference, posted some good photos as well.
France center Victor Wembanyama (7'4") and Japan guard Yuki Togashi (5'4") pic.twitter.com/gGG7qfkqzx
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 30, 2024
Japan's coaches had to be sweating anytime they saw Togashi switched onto Wembanyama during the contest. In all seriousness, while the height difference between the two players was massive—over 21 inches to be exact—the difference between the two teams on the court was not so stark, as the Japanese pushed the French into an overtime period, where they were eventually bested 94-90.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stunning Photos Show Height Difference Between Victor Wembanyama, Team Japan Player.
