At 2m40 tall, Olivier Rioux (18 years old) is quite simply the tallest teenager in the world, as certified by the Guinness Book of Records since 2021. Nature therefore gave him the assets to try to make a career in Basketball, a discipline in which he is not devoid of talent.
Spotted by the Florida Gators, a university team based in Gainesville and rich in a long tradition, the Quebecer will make his debut on Monday in the very famous NCAA championship, a league followed by millions of spectators and television viewers. The giant is aware that he will be one of the attractions of the season.
The Canadian spoke to “La Presse” before living his university destiny. Over time, he got used to being a curiosity. “I get asked questions every day. I don’t have three seconds to myself when I go out, but that doesn’t bother me. I’m used to it, my brother and my father are also tall.” His father is 2 m 07 tall and his older brother is 2 m 10. And his mother? 1 m 88. “As a family, we go out often. We can’t change the fact that people are curious.”
Originally from Terrebonne, Quebec (Canada), Olivier Rioux has several everyday objects adapted to his stature when he is in La Belle Province. Including a custom-made bed. He does not have the same facilities on his Florida campus where, he says, he struggles to lie diagonally on the mattress in his university residence. He also has to bend down to pass under several doors and he still frequently hits his head.
The man nicknamed “Oli” will become the tallest university basketball player on Monday, during the first game of the season, dethroning Kenny George (2 m 10), who wore the UNC Asheville jersey from 2006 to 2008 He is also 5 centimeters taller than the two biggest giants in the NBA championship, Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol. However, it remains to be seen whether he will convince a North American professional league team to draft him.
For the Gators, coach Todd Golden, who is preparing to begin his third season at the head of the team, is convinced that the public will go wild every time Rioux appears on the floor. “This is unheard of! Oli is at the heart of about 95% of my conversations with random people talking to me about the team. I feel like everyone can’t wait to see him in action.” Especially since, after a year spent in the soft underbelly of the rankings, expectations are now high.
Getting dressed is a constant challenge for Olivier Rioux. His shoe size? A good 20 American, which corresponds to 54.5 in Switzerland. We did some research on online sales sites. While it is quite easy to find sports shoes of this size, it is more difficult to find city pumps. As for her daily wardrobe, it comes from her basketball club, which ordered her entire outfit bearing the image of the Gators.
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