Sports

Behind his Formica counter, Dominique Hirigoyen was back at work. With a rotary phone to his left and a large merchant's scale to his right, the septuagenarian was enjoying the new burst of activity. Three years after closing, his grocery-bar was now serving as the campaign headquarters for the local boy. Serge Blanco, 67, was running for mayor of Biarritz, southwestern France. No one should ever leave Saint-Martin, the neighborhood at the entrance to the city. The legend of French rugby has devoted his whole life to it. "I started out playing football on that field across the street," he said. "I was supposed to try out in Nantes. I was 14... I never went. I just couldn't leave my mother." Nor Biarritz. "Caracas" was always just a line on his birth certificate, the city where ...

United States' Lindsey Vonn crashes during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, February 8, 2026. JACQUELYN MARTIN / AP Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the Winter Olympics downhill on Sunday, February 8, ending the American skiing great's improbable dream of winning a medal despite competing with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Vonn was just 13 seconds into her run in bright sunshine in Cortina d'Ampezzo when she lost control, twisted in the air and crumpled in the snow. The 41-year-old's cries of pain could be heard on the microphones as medical staff attended to the stricken skier on the piste. Thousands of spectators at the bottom of the run fell silent and Vonn's wa...

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye during his team's victory over the Broncos in Denver, Colorado, on January 25, 2026. JOHN LOCHER / AP The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl – an outcome few would have predicted. Seven years after their last appearance in the National Football League (NFL) championship game, which they won, the New England franchise will face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, February 8, in Santa Clara, near San Francisco, California. Long the dominant force of the 21st-century NFL, with six titles in nine Super Bowl appearances between 2002 and 2019, the Patriots return this time without their iconic quarterback, Tom Brady, who retired from football three years ago. Since the end of the Brady era – after his departure in 2020 for...

Ilia Malinin of the United States competes during the men's figure skating team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on February 8, 2026. STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH / AP US star Ilia Malinin saw off a resurgent Japan with a pulsating routine to keep the Olympic team figure skating gold in American hands on Sunday, February 8. "Quad God" Malinin led the men's free skating final in Milan with Japan taking silver and host nation Italy claiming bronze after three days of competition. Malinin hit five quadruple jumps, but did not deliver the first-ever quad axel jump in Olympic competition as he had promised. The 21-year-old scored 200.03 to push Japan's Shun Sato into second place with 194.86. ...

Paris Saint-Germain's Lee Kang-in celebrates scoring their fifth goal with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and teammates, PSG v Olympique de Marseille, Parc des Princes, Paris, France, February 8, 2026 BENOIT TESSIER / REUTERS Ousmane Dembélé struck twice as Paris Saint-Germain blew away bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday, reclaiming top spot in Ligue 1 with a crushing 5-0 victory at the Parc des Princes. Dembélé opened the scoring after just 12 minutes and added a second before half-time as PSG delivered a real statement of intent going into the crucial months of the season. Facundo Medina's own goal made it 3-0 before substitutes Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Lee Kang-in got in on the act as PSG recorded their biggest-ever margin of victory over Marseille,...

Bad Bunny performs during the halftime show at Super Bowl LX, New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks - Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, February 8, 2026. MIKE BLAKE / REUTERS From a small Caribbean island with a complicated colonial history, to the world: The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio brought Puerto Rican culture to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, February 8, for his 2026 Super Bowl halftime show in what was always going to be a landmark moment for Latinos. At the top of the performance, Bad Bunny emerged in sugar cane fields, surrounded by jibaros in pavas (rural farmers in traditional straw hats), viejitos playing dominoes (an affectionate term for older men) and a piragua stand (shaved ice) – ...

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and Sam Darnold celebrate with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LX against the New England Patriots, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, February 8, 2026 MIKE BLAKE / REUTERS The Seattle Seahawks coasted to Super Bowl glory Sunday, February 8, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL's biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and some 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. "It's unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I woul...

Gold medallist Imane Khelif of Algeria waves with her medal, Roland-Garros Stadium, Paris, August 9, 2024. PILAR OLIVARES / REUTERS Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif revealed in an interview with French sports daily L'Equipe that she had undergone hormone treatments to lower her testosterone levels ahead of the 2024 Games, but reaffirmed that she is not "transgender." Khelif was embroiled in a gender row at the Paris Games where she won gold in the women's 66kg category. "I have female hormones. And people don't know this, but I have taken hormone treatments to lower my testosterone levels for competitions," the 26-year-old Algerian said in the interview published on Wednesday, February 4. Khelif confirmed she has the SRY gene, located on t...

French full back Thomas Ramos during a Six Nations match against Ireland, March 8, 2025, in Dublin. PAUL FAITH / AFP The label on a T-shirt is meant to be discreetly tucked away inside the collar, or at most, peek out unobtrusively. That sartorial rule does not seem to apply to the French men's rugby jersey, 2026 edition. Ahead of their Six Nations opener on Thursday, February 5, against Ireland at the Stade de France, the French team has found itself repeatedly branded as the "favorites" by their opponents, a label that only adds to the pressure already on their shoulders. "It's great that we have so many fans and that there are such high expectations," joked Fabien Galthié, the French head coach, on Tuesday as he announced his team lineup – and dismissed ...

The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, which open on Friday, February 6, were meant to usher in a new era of more sustainable Olympic Games, combining restraint, the reuse of existing infrastructure and a controlled environmental footprint. Yet, on the eve of the event, that goal already seems out of reach. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) proactive approach has not been enough to square the circle of reconciling stricter environmental constraints with staging a spectacle that aims to attract more and more sponsors and television audiences in an attempt to balance its financing. These Winter Olympics in Italy are characterized by a format spread across sites that are sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart. The idea was to rely as much as possible on e...