Montreal’s Olivier Rioux, world’s tallest teen, chasing hoops dream at Canada Games
camp in Montreal, and posed for a photo alongside then-Detroit Pistons and Canadian team centre Joel Anthony, who stands a formidable six foot nine.
In the years since, Rioux has sprouted to a full seven foot six. He can dunk on an NBA hoop while barely leaving his feet.Guinness World Records recognized him as the world’s tallest teenager when he was 15 and seven foot five. If he played in the NBA now, he’d be tied with Cleveland’s Tacko Fall as the league’s tallest player.But Rioux is playing for Quebec at the Canada Summer Games this week in Ontario’s Niagara Region with kids at least his own age, if nowhere near his size.
“People see his size and their expectations are pretty high,” said Meeks. “For me, it’s the little things like his mobility and agility, how he’s moving, how he conceptualizes the game — how much fun is he having competing and playing? “Back in Montreal I used to go to school every day for at least eight hours. Now I go to school for three hours and practice in the afternoon, It’s different,” he added with a deep-voiced laugh.Montrealer Olivier Rioux breaks record, wins title for world’s tallest teenager – Sep 22, 2021Rioux was 5-2 in kindergarten. His dad Jean-François is 6-8, his mom Anne is 6-2.He first became an unsuspecting internet star at age 12, while playing at a tournament in Spain.
But perhaps most important is that Rioux is enjoying the game, which is key since huge expectations come with being super tall. “When we travel, we could be sitting in a hotel lobby and random strangers will come up to him and ask him for a picture. It’s challenging even getting through the airport to make a flight on time because people are constantly stopping him: ‘Can I take your picture? Can you hold my baby?’ Can you do this, can you do that?“When I met with our players at the end of the year. I told him `I can’t imagine being you.
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