Romain Pilliard's multihull and Violette Dorange's Imoca collided, two hours after the start of the Route du Rhum. Gabby Williams was masterful in winning the WNBA title at the end of a final where she was voted best player. Italian Kimi Antonelli became the youngest F1 world champion after the Mexican Grand Prix.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 10:13 Modified on: 02/11/2026 - 10:58

The sporting events that you shouldn't miss during the weekend: here is the France 24 sports recap.

Gabby Williams, best basketball player in the world

Frenchwoman Gabby Williams produced an incredible performance on Saturday with the Golden State Valkyries to beat Atlanta (68-63) and win her first WNBA title. In an electric atmosphere in San Francisco for this final match of the final, the French captain crushed her opponents, with 30 points, at the end of an impressive second half.

The 30-year-old Frenchwoman had an exceptional second half of the match, with 28 points scored, a record for a half in a WNBA final. With this monstrous performance, she also won the title of best player of the finals (MVP). The Valkyries win the first WNBA title in their history, after only two years in the North American basketball league. Atlanta, for its part, fails in the final for the fourth time.

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Also read: Gabby Williams wins WNBA title and rises to the top of North American basketball

Antonelli, youngest F1 champion in history

Reflecting his incredible season, Italian Kimi Antonelli, 20, was crowned Formula 1 world champion with panache by taking third place in the Mexican Grand Prix at the wheel of his Mercedes on Sunday in Mexico City.

To make the party even better, Antonelli shared the podium with two other Formula 1 legends, the Dutch winner Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and the Englishman Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), respectively four and seven times world champions.

Overwhelmed by emotion, Antonelli, wrapped in an Italian flag, was carried in triumph by his two predecessors in front of the more than 30,000 spectators gathered in the stands of the Foro Sol, probably the best place to celebrate a world title.

The opening of the Youth Olympic Games

The Dakar 2026 Youth Games, the first Olympic event to take place on African soil, opened on Saturday evening in Senegal, a historic moment for the continent, which will also see the return of Russian athletes in competition.

Until November 13, 2,665 athletes aged 14 to 17 will be in the spotlight, competing in 25 sports and 153 medal events. Athletics, beach wrestling, skateboarding, basketball, rugby sevens, breaking, cycling... the competitions will take place on eight sites, spread across three cities: Dakar, Diamniadio (around thirty km from Dakar) and Saly (around 80 km from the capital), on the coast.

In total, 136 Senegalese athletes are participating in this event, as well as more than 6,000 volunteers from Senegal, a country renowned for its football team, the Lions of Teranga, its wrestling culture and its surfing spots. The fourth edition of these YOG, however, opens in a Senegal very heavily in debt and weighed down by an economic and social crisis.

Read also: Celebration day in Senegal with the start of the Youth Olympic Games

Route du Rhum: a collision for Violette Dorange

The youngest of the last Vendée Globe, Violette Dorange, arrived during the night from Sunday to Monday in Roscoff in Finistère after a collision with a competitor a few hours after the start of the Route du Rhum on Sunday, her team announced.

At the helm of the Imoca Initiatives Cœur, the 25-year-old sailor damaged her starboard foil by colliding with Romain Pilliard's Use it Again trimaran, off the island of Bréhat. Romain Pilliard's multihull and Violette Dorange's monohull collided around 3:15 p.m., two hours after the gun was fired in mild conditions off Saint-Malo.

His team told AFP that he had not filed a complaint with race management at this stage. In accordance with the notice of race for the Route du Rhum, technical stopovers are authorized unlimitedly within the first 150 miles after the start. Furthermore, boats can stay in port as long as they wish to repair before leaving. But with this damage, Violette Dorange sees her ambition of top 10 on the queen of translantic ships being seriously compromised.

Leader from the start, Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) continued his race at the head of the 13th Route du Rhum on Monday after a vigorous night in the Celtic Sea, just ahead of Armel Le Cléac'h, who is hanging on as best he can.

Read alsoRoute du Rhum: 115 solo sailors set off in the legendary transatlantic race

Zverev world number 1

Alexander Zverev officially became world number 1 for the first time on Monday at the age of 29, overtaking Jannik Sinner who is out until the end of the season, while Arthur Fils moved up one more place (7th).

The German had been certain for weeks that he would end the year at the top of the world pyramid, and he reached the final step thanks to his run to the semi-finals in Vienna last week. For his part, Son reached his best ranking at the age of 22 by reaching the quarter-finals in Basel, where he retired due to injury against Taylor Fritz. The Frenchman also benefits from the fall of Félix Auger-Aliassime (13th, -6).

Read alsoTennis: Alexander Zverev guaranteed to become world number one

Top 14: Pau brings down Toulouse

Pau, a little less affected by the first false double of the season and injuries than Toulouse, remained master of the Hameau by bringing down the leader of the Top 14 (34-14) on Sunday at the end of the 8th day. The clash on paper between the undisputed number 1 in French rugby and the rising Béarnaise did not reach the heights of the game but the main thing was elsewhere for the Section which needed to find itself again after its rout in Toulon.

By relying on its executives, notably foreigners, who have not yet gone to the selections, it showed itself overall to be superior to the Haut-Garonnais who were never able to completely cover their initial outlay (14-0) and gave in for the second time after their setback at the start of the season in La Rochelle. In the standings, the Béarnais find the podium two lengths behind their victim of the evening and one behind Bordeaux-Bègles, the trio for the start of the season (6 victories, 2 defeats for the three).

Irish athletics champion Ciara Mageean dies

Irish athlete Ciara Mageean, crowned European 1,500m champion in 2024, died on Sunday from intestinal cancer at the age of 34, her family announced on Instagram.

Crowned European champion in the 1,500m in Rome ahead of the British Georgia Hunter-Bell and the French Agathe Guillemot, Ciara Mageean announced in July 2025 that she was suffering from cancer. The athlete from Portaferry in Northern Ireland later revealed it was advanced bowel cancer, and wrote a book about his fight against the disease - "My Greatest Race" - published in the summer of 2026.

She was also due to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris but had to withdraw on the eve of her entry due to an Achilles tendon injury.

PSG in the lead

Led by Achraf Hakimi, author of a hat-trick, PSG continued its march forward in Ligue 1 on Friday by crushing Le Havre (5-1), bottom red, and consolidated its leadership position at the opening of the 9th day. After a delay in starting in Ligue 1, Paris confirmed its good momentum for the month of October with this sixth victory in a row in the championship, further forgetting the avalanche of injuries.

Lyon regained third place in Ligue 1 by beating Angers (2-0) on Sunday at Groupama stadium, after a very average match, against a backdrop of rumors of the imminent departure of coach Paulo Fonseca. OL (17 pts) are one length behind Lille, second with 18 pts. Angers remains in 15th position with 8 pts, one more than Le Mans, first relegation.

Read alsoLigue 1: PSG scores a sixth consecutive victory, Achraf Hakimi scores a hat-trick

Arsenal take the lead

Jostled as rarely, Arsenal absorbed the blows and put up the barbed wire to contain the fury of Liverpool (1-0), unleashed in front of their Anfield audience but too imprecise, a courageous victory synonymous with first place in the league.

The English champions opened the scoring early through their center forward Kai Havertz (16th) and then resisted multiple offensive attacks from the Reds, who attempted 17 shots without hitting a single one. The icing on the cake, the London club offers itself a victory steeped in history: it had not won at Liverpool since September 2012 in the Premier League, at a time when Arsène Wenger was the coach and Mikel Arteta (the current manager), the captain.

This triumph on enemy soil allows Arsenal (24 pts) to steal first place from Manchester City (2nd, 21 pts), beaten 1-0 on Saturday by Brighton (3rd, 19 pts). Liverpool (5th, 15 pts) finds itself behind Chelsea (4th, 16 pts), winner of Manchester United (2-0 Saturday).

Mbappé moves forward with Real

After a week agitated by a diplomatic controversy with China, Kylian Mbappé's Real Madrid scored a fourth consecutive victory in La Liga on Sunday by winning largely (3-0) on the lawn of Racing Santander, and remains in contact with FC Barcelona and Atlético.

This tense context did not prevent the Spanish giant (3rd, 27 points) from maintaining its good momentum and putting on a show, on the promoted pitch (16th, 11 points), with no solution in the face of the firepower of Madrid's armada of stars.

After an eventful week, marked first by his second place in the Ballon d'Or, just 28 points behind the Englishman Harry Kane, then by this global controversy born from a joke about a meme representing him as Mao Zedong, Mbappé opened the ball by obtaining and converting a penalty (11th sp, 1-0). The captain of the French team, author of his 12th goal of the season in the championship, then served as relay on the second goal scored by English midfielder Jude Bellingham (22nd, 2-0) and celebrated another powerful volley from the young Ivorian Yan Diomandé (36th, 3-0).

Lazio's good weekend

Having moved to the top of the Italian Championship without playing after the defeat of Inter Milan on Saturday, Lazio Rome hit the nail on the head on Sunday with its success at home against Cagliari (2-1). For the first time in sixteen years, Lazio occupies, alone, the leader's seat in Serie A. After this ninth victory for a draw, Lazio, whose second scudetto dates back to 2000, totals 28 points out of 30 possible, unheard of in its history at this stage of the season.

Gennaro Gattuso's men are three points ahead of Inter Milan (2nd, 25 pts), the reigning Italian champion and leader before this 10th day which conceded its first defeat of the season against AC Milan (3-1) on Saturday, its fourth loss in a row in the Milan derby. For its part, Como came through thanks to a penalty from Lucas Da Cunha of the red lantern Venice 1-0 to return with its 23 points (4th) on the heels of Roma (3rd, 24 pts), winner 5-2 in Udine on Saturday.

Promoted Frosinone continues to surprise: after its victory against Torino, the modest Lazio club is 6th with 20 points, six more than Naples which fell to 8th place after its defeat at Juventus (2-0). Juve, who suffered two defeats in the previous three days (3-0 at home against Lazio and 2-0 at Genoa), won thanks to Kerim Alajbegovic (70th) and Jérémie Boga (87th) to move back into 7th place, but eleven points behind Lazio.

Bayern slowed down

After leading twice, Bayern conceded a draw (2-2) at the end of the game against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening after a Klassiker during which the German champion lost three players to injuries, including Michael Olise. Before the match, Harry Kane was celebrated for winning the Ballon d'Or in London on Monday, but he failed to score and even missed a penalty.

With 18 points on the clock, like Borussia, Bayern retains the lead in the Bundesliga thanks to a better goal difference (+19 against +8), but the Munich players paid dearly for this small point. Three internationals came out injured: the Moroccan Ismael Saibari, who appeared in the mixed zone on crutches, and the German Serge Gnabry, injured in a thigh, should be unavailable for the trip to Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday against Atlético. France team midfielder Michael Olise, who left at the end of the match limping after a blow to his right knee, is uncertain.

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While Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid and La Liga quickly apologized for the star striker's comments about Mao Zedong, the damage done to their reputation in China will not be easy or quick to repair. And Spanish football has a lot to lose in view of the commercial relations it maintains with this economic power.

Also read Will Kylian Mbappé's apology to China be enough to limit economic losses?

For Halloween, French basketball player Victor Wembanyama struck hard again. Before the San Antonio Spurs match against Minnesota, the captain of the France team arrived in the room in costume from the television series “The Witcher”.

With AFP and Reuters

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