Good habits do not change and the sport continues to delight young and old. Le Parisien offers a selection of issues before each weekend and details the events not to be missed in Île-de-France. Overview.
The event of the weekend: Nanterre basketball players take over the Paris La Défense Arena
BASKET. This is the unmissable weekend event for lovers of sport and big shows. Five after a first successful experience, the Nanterre basketball players will once again pose their dribbles and play a match on Sunday in the majestic Paris La Défense Arena, the largest indoor hall in Europe. And like 5 years ago, the opponent is called Asvel, the club of Tony Parker with its many stars (including the international tricolor Nando De Colo) and its unequaled record (21 titles of champion of France in particular).
In 2018, the club set the attendance record for an indoor sports championship match with 15,220 spectators. This record will be broken on Sunday. The club announced at the start of the week that it had passed the milestone of 15,221 tickets sold. The 16,000 seat mark, with a sold-out match, should be reached.
Beyond the duel on the floor between struggling Nanterriens (15th) and Asvel which is gaining momentum (6th), spectators will attend a real show with an “unpublished sound and light” show, the performances of two rappers – Gaulois, originally from Nanterre, and Naza -, as well as numerous activities and exhibitions around the world of basketball in the passageways of the Arena…
Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. The match will start at 5 p.m.
The poster to follow: the Jokers aim for qualification in Gap
ICE HOCKEY. Semi-final or not? This Sunday, at the end of the evening, the Cergy-Pontoise Jokers may have closed all suspense as to their qualification for the last four of the Magnus League championship. Victorious over Gap during the first two meetings in Val d’Oise, the proteges of Jonathan Paredes can definitively put an end to the series which opposes them to the Hautes-Alpes club, which receives them twice this weekend. They need to win again this Saturday (8:30 p.m.), then conclude the next day, the first team to pocket four successes being qualified. If Gap wins one of the two matches, the series will continue the following Wednesday at Aren’Ice.
The weekend outing: on foot and by bike in the Bois de Boulogne
BIKE & RUN. Want to run with friends or as a couple? The new Bike & Run Paris race, which consists of a combination of cycling and running, invites you to exercise in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne. This Sunday, choose your route according to your level and your desire for a challenge, between five races, and explore the large Parisian park.
On the program, four courses of 2 to 16 km as well as a family animathlon, not timed, perfect for discovering the practice of sport without pressure and having fun. The event, open to all, is intended to be fun and wishes to work on solidarity and complicity, since it will be necessary to put in place a duo strategy to reach the goal: to cross the finish line together, on foot or by bike. Festive entertainment is planned throughout the course.
The race program: 15 km: departure at 9.30 am, registration from 18 years old; 8 km: start at 10.30 a.m., registration from 14 years old; 4 km: departure at 11:30 a.m., registration for young people born between 2008 and 2011; 2 km: departure at 12 p.m., registration for young people born after 2011; Animathlon: like the previous course, in a family version without timing or rankings.
The sentence: “This match must be a party”, for Fred Havas, coach of the Levallois volleyball players
VOLLEY. The Marcadet room of the Geo-André Stadium (Paris XVI) promises to be full on Saturday. The lair of the volleyball players of the Stade Français Paris Saint-Cloud will indeed be the scene of the expected Ile-de-France derby of Ligue A Féminine. A duel a priori unbalanced. If the Parisiennes have been close to the heights since the start of the season (3rd), the players of Levallois are experiencing a delicate season. Promoted to this level, they occupy 13th place, that of relegation. At 4 days of the verdicts, and 12 points in play, they deplore 11 lengths behind on the waterline. “Mathematically it’s still possible but it would be a miracle, says Fred Havas, the Levallois coach. In our situation, we have to approach this match as a party. We have pride and we want to show that we are a good team. We are not here to make up the numbers or simply act of presence. “In the first leg, the Levalloisiennes lost in the tie-break.
Beyond the ring road: the Grande Course du Grand Paris
RUNNING. Do you know the Grande Course du Grand Paris? This event with sporting values, but also ecological, solidarity and humanist values, has a strong symbolic dimension: linking the center of the capital to Greater Paris, crossing the ring road barrier and celebrating the region with a finish at the mythical Stade de France. This Sunday, you have the choice between a 21km half-marathon, an eco-responsible 10-kilometre course and a race for children, in short enough to satisfy all runners in the Ile-de-France region, from novices to professionals.
As for the course, the 10 km starts from the Place de la République, passes through the Saint-Martin canal, then those of La Villette and Saint-Denis. The finish is on the Stade de France track, to do like the greatest athletes. This year, the half-marathon is added to the program. It begins at the Bois de Vincennes, passes through the Coulée verte René Dumont, Voltaire, République, Saint Ambroise, Stalingrad and La Villette, for the same drop-off point as the 10km.
Children and families are not forgotten, however, with a 1km mini course, on the Stade de France track, for children aged 5 to 12. The event, which wishes to limit its impact on the environment, offers organic and local supplies, without plastic, and a wooden medal for the runners, which contains sunflower seeds… to plant. If you simply want to attend, the stands of the Stade de France are accessible free of charge for the occasion.
The discovery of the weekend: the women’s wheelchair rugby World Cup at the foot of the Eiffel Tower
RUGBY CHAIR. A few months from the Rugby World Cup, in October 2023 in Paris, which will take place at the same time as the next Rugby World Cup, the capital of France is already hosting a prestigious event in the discipline. A women’s event that takes on even more meaning during the week of International Women’s Day. For three days, from Thursday to Saturday, the best teams on the planet will compete at the foot of the Eiffel Tower (at the Emile Anthoine sports center, Paris XV) for the 3rd edition of the Women’s Cup.
“I am honored to be the godmother (of the event) and very proud to support this event focused on wheelchair rugby and women’s practice, explains Coumba Diallo, French rugby international and Stade Français player, who is the tournament sponsor. We need this type of very promising event, which federates and brings people together, around a practice that is fun to watch, based on commitment, technique and determination. »
The Women’s Cup not only wants to bring together wheelchair rugby practitioners, already recognized throughout the world, but it also aims to encourage eligible women to discover this discipline which is open to them. If this sport of contacts, tactics and physical commitments undermines all prejudices about disability, it is also an unequaled spearhead that can improve the condition of female athletes in the world and on all terrains.
The competition will oppose 5 teams, and 42 athletes, from 9 countries (France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Canada, United States, Korea, Australia and New Zealand). Matches begin Thursday afternoon, then will be played from 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Thursday and Friday. The final is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday and will be followed by the ceremony.
The player to discover: TaShawn Thomas with the Mets of Victor Wembanyama
BASKET. He did not disappoint. For his big debut under the colors of the Metropolitans 92, the interior TaShawn Thomas was one of the architects of the short but important victory (76-78) in Pau on Tuesday evening. The former manceau (30 years old, 2.03m) finished the game with 17 points – including the decisive dunk – and 8 rebounds. A contribution superior to his predecessor at the Mets, the Latvian Anzejs Pasecniks. Levallois spectators will be able to get to know him and his promising duo with Victor Wembanyama this Friday (8:30 p.m.), on the occasion of the 23rd day of Betclic Elite, for the arrival of the promoted Nancy. A club trained by Sylvain Lautié who marked the history of Levallois in particular by allowing the club to go from N1 to Pro B.
In addition Paris, which moves to Strasbourg on Saturday will also present itself with a rookie: Chris Goulding. The 34-year-old Australian international arrives as a medical freelancer for Kyle Allman Jr, absent for several weeks following his ankle injury during the match against … Strasbourg last January. Three-time NBL (Australian Championship) champion with Melbourne United, the back had 17.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season.
THE PROGRAM
BASKET. Betclic Elite (23rd day): BOULOGNE-LEVALLOIS – Nancy (Friday, 8.30 p.m., Marcel-Cerdan sports hall); Strasbourg – PARIS (Saturday, 8 p.m.); NANTERRE – Asvel (Sunday, 5 p.m., Paris La Défense Arena).
HANDBALL. Women’s League (17th day): Mérignac – PARIS 92 (Saturday, 8 p.m.).
HOCKEY. Magnus League (final phase, matches 3 and 4): Gap – CERGY-PONTOISE (Saturday, 8.30 p.m. and Sunday, 6.30 p.m.).
RUGBY FAUTEUIL. Women’s Cup (Emile Anthoine sports center, Paris XV) : match for 3rd place (2:45 p.m., Saturday), final (4:30 p.m., Saturday).
VOLLEY. Ligue A (24th day): PARIS – Nantes-Rezé (Friday, 8 p.m., Pierre-Charpy room); Cambrai – LE PLESSIS-ROBINSON (Saturday, 8 p.m.). Women’s A League (23rd day): STADE FRANCAIS PARIS SAINT-CLOUD – LEVALLOIS (Saturday, 8 p.m., Geo-André gymnasium).