Olympic Games – Paris 2024 – Victor Wembanyama on the verge of tears: “It’s hard to keep these emotions in”

He was on the verge of tears. Clearly moved. And on the verge of breaking down at any moment during the first questions when he stopped in front of the microphones in the mixed zone. Victor Wembanyama did not feign his emotions after the French team’s major performance in the quarter-finals against Germany – the reigning world champion – on Thursday at Bercy (73-69). And yet, he tried to contain himself. “It’s not over, that’s why I try to keep a lot of emotion inside,” admitted the NBA rookie of the year. “It’s hard with all the crowd. All these emotions, to keep them inside yourself, but that’s what I try to do.”

While he had lost his voice a little after shouting his happiness on the court, Victor Wembyanama admitted to living a waking dream for his first international competition. And to touch a goal that he has had in mind for months, years. “This final, it represents everything. For a month and a half, even more than that, we’ve only been thinking about it 24 hours a day, really,” says the Spurs star, who admitted that the last time he had been so touched was perhaps on the evening of his historic draft. We are where we wanted to go. There is still the last step.”

A 2nd Olympic final in a row: the highlights of the Blues’ success against Germany

A huge chance to make history

As a true sports lover, Wemby is on cloud nine. However, he didn’t weigh as much on Thursday night as one might expect given his status as a UFO on the basketball planet. Clumsy (24% success and 1 out of 8 on three-pointers), the Spurs center finished with 11 points, leaving Isaia Cordinier (16 pts) or Guerschon Yabusele (17 pts and 7 rbds in total) to take the lead to fuel the score. But like in the quarter-final against Canada, he weighed differently (7 rbds, 4 assists, 3 blocks). Above all, he has no desire to dwell on his individual performance.

What makes him happy is obviously this success. And especially this French team transformed over the last two matches. “We knew we had it in us. We just needed a little time to get to know each other. And at this level of basketball, there is no training that can prepare you for that. (…) We had to deepen our connection with the staff. Between us, get to know our habits, see what works and what doesn’t work,” he explains.

Overjoyed and happy to experience such emotions after a sluggish start to the tournament, Victor Wembanyama does not intend to be satisfied with that. He wants more. “We have the chance to do something that has never been done, that will perhaps never be reproduced. It’s just incredible,” he says. “It’s a huge chance to be able to make history. To make history in French sport, not just basketball. But it’s not just us, it’s everyone.” And at that moment, he will be able to let the tears flow.

Cordinier: “We are Kairas, when we play like this, no one can stop us”