Sports

Charles Coste at his home in Bois-Colombes, France, on January 30, 2024. JOEL SAGET/AFP Charles Coste said he experienced "one of the most beautiful moments of his long life" when, on July 26, 2024, in the Jardin des Tuileries, he passed the Olympic torch to Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec and watched the Olympic flame rise into the rainy Paris sky. "I never thought I would receive such an honor," remarked the centenarian, after Tony Estanguet, the head of the organizing committee, had quietly called him a month before the ceremony to inform him he would be one of the last torchbearers. Perhaps Coste thought back 76 years, to when he and his teammates from the France team pursuit squad became Olympic champions in London,...

Members of the JOP 2030 citizens' collective, protesting to demand the withdrawal of France's bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, in front of the International Olympic Committee headquarters, in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 19, 2024. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP This marks a world first: A group of citizens will be heard by a United Nations oversight body on the subject of the Olympic Games. On Monday, October 20, the JOP 2030 citizens' collective learned that it would be heard in Geneva, at the UN's Palace of Nations, by the compliance committee tasked with the Aarhus Convention on "environmental democracy," in a preliminary admissibility hearing scheduled for November 18. This is only the fourth time in history that a case involving France has been examined in depth. ...

Tour de France General Director Christian Prudhomme in Paris on October 23, 2025. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP From Montjuic in Barcelona to Montmartre in Paris, the 2026 Tour de France presents champion Tadej Pogacar and his rivals with a plethora of mountain passes and peaks, including two stages tackling the revered Alpe d'Huez. Read more Subscribers only Tadej Pogacar, a Tour de France champion weary of his own dominance The 21-day race will start in Barcelona on July 4 and cover 3,333 kilometers before finishing beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on July 26, organizers revealed during an unveiling ceremony on Thursday, October 23. This itinerary offers Pogacar's chief riv...

Italy's Jannik Sinner during his round of 16 match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo at the ATP 1000 Masters, Paris Masters, in Nanterre, France, on October 30, 2025. SARAH MEYSSONNIER / REUTERS Jannik Sinner eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters on Thursday, October 30, to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital will return Sinner to number one in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain's Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament...

RC Toulon rugby player André Herrero holds the trophy and celebrates with supporters their victory over SU Agen at the Challenge Yves du Manoir, on May 24, 1970 in Colombes. - / AFP Ex-France rugby international André Herrero has died aged 87, his former club Toulon announced on Friday, October 24. Nicknamed "The Great," Herrero played 22 times for Les Bleus between 1963 and 1971, winning the Five Nations title in his final year of Test rugby. Herrero, who could cover second-row and back-row, spent 16 years at Toulon as a player before stints as a coach and president before being inducted into the club's hall of fame, alongside England icon Jonny Wilkinson in 2023. "It's with immense sadness that Toulon learnt of the death of André Herre...

French biathlon champion Julia Simon, who was found guilty of credit card fraud, at a courthouse in the French Alps, on October 24, 2025. JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP French biathlon star Julia Simon was found guilty of theft and credit card fraud by a French court and handed a three-month suspended prison sentence on Friday, October 24, a decision that raises questions over her participation at next year's Winter Olympics. Simon was accused of repeatedly using a bank card belonging to her teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, as well as that of a French team staff member, to make online purchases totaling more than €2,000 ($2,300). Simon has previously claimed 10 world titles and won an Olympic silver medal for France in the mixed relay at the 202...

PSG's Achraf Hakimi, fourth from left, celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's opening goal during the French League One football match between Brest and Paris Saint-Germain in Brest, France, on October 25, 2025. JEREMIAS GONZALEZ / AP Paris Saint-Germain won after two Ligue 1 stalemates, beating Brest 3-0 on Saturday, October 25, to replace Marseille at the top of the table. The reigning French and European champions regained the summit after Marseille came unstuck 2-1 in the late game at Lens. Mason Greenwood continued his fine form, putting Marseille into a 17th-minute lead a week after netting four in the 6-2 hammering of Le Havre. But they were undone by Odsonne Edouard's penalty after a foul by Benjamin Pavard, who then sc...

After American Fred Kerley, a double Olympic medalist in the 100 meters, French athlete Mouhamadou Fall signed a contract on Thursday, October 23, with the Enhanced Games. These are often dubbed the "Doping Games" because "performance-enhancing substances" will be allowed under an announced protocol described as "safe, legal and science-based," are set to hold their inaugural edition – with athletics, swimming and weightlifting events – in Las Vegas, Nevada, from May 21 to 24. Offering huge bonuses to participating athletes, this project, launched by Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza in 2023, has sparked controversy in athletic and scientific circles. It openly aims to create a "super humanity," to end the "hegemony of the Olympic Games," and to challenge what organizers...

During the final stage of the 16th Tour du Rwanda on February 25, 2024, in Kigali. GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP When the world's best cyclists arrive in Kigali for the UCI Road World Championships, which take place from September 21 to 28, they will experience the thrill of competition, the beauty of our landscapes and the warmth of our people. But they will also, whether they realize it or not, be participating in a carefully choreographed image-laundering operation. The other reality of Rwanda − which President Paul Kagame is desperate to hide − is one of silenced journalists, disappeared opposition figures and millions of Congolese who have been victims of a conflict in which Rwanda plays a major role, even while refusing to admit it. As a Rwandan journalist w...

France's flanker Axelle Berthoumieu in the blue jersey tackles England's number 8 Alex Matthews at Twickenham, London on April 29, 2023. ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP France's Axelle Berthoumieu will miss the rest of the Women's Rugby World Cup after an appeal panel upheld a ban for biting during last weekend's quarter-final against Ireland. French coach Gaelle Mignot then confirmed that fly half Lina Queyroi had not recovered from a concussion against Ireland and, like banned pair Berthoumieu and captain Manae Feleu, would miss the semi-final in Bristol against top seeds England. Berthoumieu had appealed a 12-match ban for biting against Ireland, and while the panel reduced her suspension to nine games, she cannot play on Saturday. The 25-year-old will...