Oui, Lille has regained its place as leader of Ligue 1, after sharing the point of a draw against PSG at the end of the 16th day (0-0).
Yes, the French handball players could do nothing against the power of the Norwegians to whom they gave up their title of European champions on Sunday.
Yes, Alexis Pinturault won Sunday in the giant Alta Badia, Italy, and takes the lead in the general classification of the World Cup.
But something else happened this weekend in the sports world. And you may have missed it.
The three weekend lessons
- For the Olympics, you will qualify
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The objective was clear: achieve the minimums to qualify for the next Olympic Games. Contract completed for the decathlete Kévin Mayer who, with 8,552 points, won the meeting in Réunion on Friday and Saturday, and validated his ticket for Tokyo (8,350 points required) next summer. There was no question for “Kéké the embers”, holder of the world record (9,126 points), to take risks, he who remains on a retirement at the Doha Worlds in autumn 2019.
But the athlete with the face of an angel was able, on the track of the Saint-Paul stadium, to reassure himself and notably erase his best performance in the 110 m hurdles (13 sec 54) – before an average pole vault, exercise with which the decathlete remains in delicacy. “There is relief, it’s tremendous pressure and less weight (…) Now we will let the juice rise to Tokyo and I will focus on what to do for the Olympics ”, said Kevin Mayer, who is meeting Australian prodigy Ashley Moloney (20) in the summer.
- At your reunion, you will triumph
The reunion between the two men on the discipline of their debut was enticing. On Sunday, the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel beat his great Belgian rival Wout van Aert in Namur by three seconds to win the second stage of the Cyclo-cross World Cup. In the Walloon capital, after a 2020 season where they shone on the road – victory of van der Poel in the Tour of Flanders, success of van Aert in Milan San Remo – the two riders engaged in their first duel of the 2020 season. -2021 cyclo-cross – van der Poel did not participate in the first round of the World Cup, at the end of November in Tabor (Czech Republic).
In the general classification, however, it is van Aert who takes the lead, while three races still have to be played. The two men meet for the revenge next Sunday in Dendermonde, in the north-west of Belgium.
- To perfection, you will approach
The Norwegian Tiril Eckhoff could have had the perfect week in Hochfilzen by making the pass of three in the Austrian Tyrol, the scene of the fourth biathlon world cup stage. Victorious in the sprint on Friday then in the pursuit the next day, the Norwegian gave in, Sunday, December 20, in front of her compatriot Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, leader of the general, during the mass start (one penalty each).
In the general classification, Tiril Eckhoff, behind during the inaugural stages of Kontiolahti (Finland), added to his excellent stay in Hochfilzen by climbing to third place, 69 points behind Roeiseland. Norway outrageously dominates the world biathlon for both women and men (five representatives in the Top 10). The circuit will take a break until January 4 and the first of two scheduled stages in Oberhof, Germany.
The weekend figure: 643
It is not without its most beautiful. Not the hardest part, either. But this 643e Lionel Messi’s goal, registered for FC Barcelona, places the Argentine a little more in the football legend. The Blaugrana striker equaled the record for goals scored in a single club on Saturday, December 19, but was unable to prevent the Catalans’ draw against Valencia (2-2) in the 14e La Liga matchday. The “Pulga” thus joined Pelé and his total of 643 goals with the club of Santos, to which the Brazilian had remained faithful from 1956 to 1974. With the difference that Messi only needed “only” 748 matches to arrive at this record, against 757 for “the king” of São Paulo, 80, who congratulated the Argentinian on his Instagram account.
The weekend image
Boxer Canelo Alvarez defeated Britain’s Callum Smith on points on Saturday (December 19) in San Antonio, TX, a victory that sees the Mexican unify the WBA titles and grab the vacant WBC super middleweight belt. Canelo Alvarez, 30 years old and considered one of the best boxers in the world in all categories – he was world champion in four different categories (super-welterweight, middleweight, super-middleweight, light heavyweight) -, now presents a record of 54 victories (including 36 before the limit), 2 draws and 1 defeat.
The declaration of the weekend
“This victory is the answer to a lot of questions I asked myself during the summer and fall. I was a bit at the bottom of the hole. There is the answer to everything. “
Skicross / Jonathan Midol, winner in Val Thorens: “I was at the bottom of the hole” https://t.co/aLIwpE5q5X
Jonathan Midol shows resilience. The 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in Val Thorens won the second World Cup victory of his career on Sunday in Val Thorens ahead of the Canadian Reece Howden and the German Florian Wilmsmann. Happiness Never Comes Alone : “My wife is pregnant, we are expecting a baby in February, I am building a house: I had therefore changed a lot of things and I was wondering if I hadn’t thought elsewhere. Here are the answers “, said the 32-year-old, who obviously had a lot of questions lately.
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