PARIS — Sports often are a secondary attraction in Paris, with athletes having a difficult time standing out in a cultural sphere driven largely by food, fashion and the arts.
Victor Wembanyama may use the Paris Olympics to be the first homegrown sports star to dismantle that dynamic.
The 7-foot-4 French-born phenom made San Antonio Spurs NBA games appointment viewing as a rookie in the league this past season, boosting his already swelling global brand. Now the 20-year-old is returning home for the Paris Games as by far the biggest name in his country’s Olympic delegation.
Wembanyama literally will be a center of attention this month, and not just because of what he can do on the court, but because he’s become a central figure with the charisma to draw in both ardent sports fans and casual French citizens alike.
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“I tend to underestimate the fan enthusiasm for me. I don’t pay more attention to it than that,” Wembanyama said recently. “But when I returned to France a few weeks ago for the first time, I felt the enthusiasm of the public that was different from before.”
The arrival of “Wemby” in the NBA, the world’ most premier basketball league, had been anticipated for years as his reputation and skill set stood out while he came up through the ranks of French basketball.
France’s Victor Wembanyama smiles while speaking during media day at the French National Institute of Sport and Physical Education on June 27 in Vincennes., outside Paris.
It was not unlike the rise of 25-year-old French soccer star Kylian Mbappé, who at just 18 helped lead France to a World Cup title in 2018 and another World Cup final in 2022 while simultaneously taking his place as one of club soccer’s top players.
But after month’s announcements that Mbappé had officially left local Paris Saint-Germain to join La Liga power Real Madrid, followed by news that he won’t be competing for the host country in the Olympics , it’s put even more focus on Wembanyama, who said he’s always held the Olympic stage in high regard.
“I have been preparing for them since the first time I saw the Olympics on TV,” Wembanyama said. “It was always a dream and then as we grew up it became a goal. It’s definitely something that’s really unique in sport. I think it’s the most important sporting event in the world.”
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