What if you took a little sports break between Christmas meals and New Year's festivities? That's good, athletes don't all stop at the end of the year. Here is a non-exhaustive list of sports competitions not to be missed during the holidays.
Football: the traditional “Boxing day” feast in England
For football fans, head to Great Britain. For 164 years, footballers playing for English clubs have been on deck the day after Christmas, as is the tradition of “Boxing Day”. This year, no big posters.
The Premier League leader, Liverpool, will host Leicester, 17th, (at 9 p.m.), while its runner-up, Chelsea, will face Fulham (8th) at 4 p.m. Manchester City (5th), for its part, will try to revive against Everton (16th) at 1:30 p.m. On December 27, William Saliba and the Gunners will play against promoted Ipswich Town (18th) at 9:15 p.m.
NBA: Wembanyama on the floors for Christmas, Gobert against Doncic
No respite either for basketball players, whether in France or across the Atlantic. In the NBA, Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs will be on the floor on December 25 (6 p.m.) against the New York Knicks to open the evening. At 8:30 p.m., the match between Minnesota and Dallas will offer a duel between Frenchman Rudy Gobert and Slovenian Luka Doncic for a remake of the last conference final.
In France, the championship leader, Cholet, will welcome its neighbor Manceau (7th) on December 27 at 6 p.m. At 8:30 p.m., Bourg-en-Bresse (4th) will host Saint-Quentin (5th), for the shock of this 14th day of elite Betclic.
Rugby: seven Top 14 posters to end the year in style
Since 2009, Christmas has also rhymed with rugby. Seven Top 14 matches are scheduled for December 28 and 29 as part of the Boxing Day. Among the weekend's posters, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Union Bordeaux-Bègles, 2nd in the standings, will face RC Toulon (4th) on Saturday at 9:05 p.m. Stade Toulouse, leader of the championship, will host Stade Français (12th), in difficulty since the start of the season, in the Stades clash.
Alpine skiing: Cyprien Sarrazin back in Bormio, one year after his success
During this winter period, the alpine ski season also continues to be in full swing. The men will stop at Bormio in Italy for a descent (on the 28th) then a Super-G (on the 29th). The opportunity to see the Swiss Marco Odermatt, reigning world champion in downhill, and the French Cyprien Sarrazin, winner of the legendary transalpine downhill, a year ago. Among the other Tricolores to follow, Blaise Giezendanner, 7th in the Beaver Creek descent on December 6, and Nils Allègre, 6th in the Bormio Super-G a year ago.
The women meet in Semmering, Austria. On the program, a giant on Saturday and a slalom on Sunday. In the absence of Mikaela Shiffrin, who fell during the second round of the Killington giant on December 1, these two races look like they will be open.
Tennis: the United Cup returns to Australia with Humbert and Moutet for France
For the end of the year in the sun, world tennis is once again packing its bags in Australia for the third edition of the United Cup. This competition, which pits 18 mixed national teams against each other, takes place from December 27 to January 5, in Perth and Sydney. Several big names will launch their season there like Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek.
France will be represented by Ugo Humbert, Corentin Moutet, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Chloé Paquet, Léolia Jeanjean and Elixane Lechemia. They will face Switzerland and Italy in the group stage. New, a buzzer will be available to players at the edge of the field. By activating it, they will be able to benefit from 60 seconds of downtime. A request that can only be asked once during mixed doubles matches, but not in singles.
