
Women's Euro 2025: France banks on mental training to overcome knockout-stage nerves
Before heading to Switzerland for the European Championship, the French players were once again confronted with this recurring theme. At both the World Cup and the Olympics, their campaigns ended at the quarter-final stage. This disappointing pattern has repeated itself seven times in the last eight major international tournaments since 2013 (Euros, World Cups and Olympic Games). Facing Germany on Saturday, July 18, in Basel, the French side has a chance to book their place in the final four – a stage they have reached only once in the past 12 years, at the 2022 tournament in England.
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France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Canada swim star McIntosh primed to take worlds by storm
McIntosh won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics last year and then broke three world records in a breathtaking performance at the Canadian trials in June. The teenager is the first swimmer to set world records in three different individual events since Michael Phelps did it on the way to his glittering eight-gold haul at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "Absolutely wild," McIntosh said of the accomplishment in an interview with Canadian broadcaster CBC. Then she promptly pointed to a litany of things she could improve on in each race, saying the self-criticism is part of her mission to keep testing the boundaries of her sport. "I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect race, at least I haven't done it yet," she said ahead of the world championships in Singapore starting on Sunday. "There's room for more and that's what keeps me going. And I'm also still so young, I have so much more to achieve and I know I can get so much stronger." That competitive spirit runs deep in the McIntosh family. Her mother Jill competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in swimming and older sister Brooke is a top pairs figure skater who won bronze in 2022 at the world junior championships. "We're very competitive. This is really in our blood," Brooke once said. Wanting more McIntosh's rapid journey to the pinnacle of swimming has taken her from Canada to Florida, where she trained with the Sarasota Sharks from 2022 and through the Paris Games. After the world championships she will begin training with Phelps's mentor Bob Bowman in Texas, as she builds toward the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. In the meantime she has been training since January with French coach Fred Vergnoux and his group in Antibes, crediting his contribution to "the best meet of my career" despite the relatively brief association. "I've gone way faster than I ever could have imagined," she said. At the Canadian trials in Victoria she smashed the 400m freestyle world record with a time of 3min 54.18sec, regaining a mark she had lost to Australian Ariarne Titmus. She also broke the decade-old 200m individual medley world mark and lowered her own 400m medley world record. In between she threatened Katie Ledecky's latest 800m free world mark on the way to the third-fastest time in history. She also clocked the second-fastest 200m butterfly ever, edging toward the record set by China's Liu Zige in 2009. McIntosh launched her Olympic career in 2021 in Tokyo, where at 14 she was the youngest member of the Canadian team. She didn't win a medal but in Paris last summer she took gold in the 200m butterfly, 200m medley and 400m medley, and claimed silver in the 400m free. In Singapore she's expanding her program to include the 800m free and another mouthwatering showdown with Ledecky -- one of the swimmers she idolized as a youngster. Now that she has established herself among swimming's elite, McIntosh has no trouble finding new motivation. "I always want more," she said.


France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Wallabies wing Potter rubbishes 'ridiculous' losing mentality jibe
England's World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward slammed the home side after captain Harry Wilson kicked the ball dead after the hooter to end the first Test in Brisbane, rather than try to score when 27-19 down. "Talk about a losing mentality," said Woodward. "For me, it is the last play of the game so why not have a mentality to try and score as this could be the situation in seven days' time, only closer?" he wrote in a British newspaper column. "Why would any player, especially the captain, want to end the game?" Potter blasted Woodward's claim as unwarranted. "It's pretty ridiculous to suggest that the 23 people who played on the weekend have a mentality of losing," he said at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which will host the second Test on Saturday. "We went out there to win the game, and we didn't win the game. But it was our intention very much and you could tell from every player in the team we wanted to win that game." Potter said coach Joe Schmidt and the side learned plenty of lessons which they will take into Saturday's showdown in front of an expected crowd of 90,000. "It's been tough looking back at that game, certainly learnt a fair bit," he said. "It felt like we didn't put our best foot forward, particularly the first 50-60 minutes. "Lot of lessons to take out of that one. They're an incredibly strong team, but we know that we've just got to come out better and start the game stronger. "And I suppose there were some positive signs towards the end of the game where we felt like if we string enough things together, then we can go a lot better than we did," he added. The Wallabies need to win on Saturday to keep the three-Test series alive and Potter said there was no lack of determination within the squad. "Emotionally it's very simple this week and we all know the task at hand, so I don't think anyone's got any questions about what's at stake," he said. The third and final Test is in Sydney on August 2.


Fashion Network
4 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Skims inks new partnership with League One Volleyball
Skims announced on Tuesday a new partnership with League One Volleyball (LOVB), which sees the Kim Kardashian -owned brand step up as official loungewear, intimates, and sleepwear partner for the U.S. women's sports team. As part of the partnership, Skims will participate in LOVB community and athlete-driven events, league-wide activations, and more throughout the season. The deal will also provides Skims with exposure across LOVB's official digital platforms, events, and broadcasts. 'We're excited to partner with League One Volleyball and to support the incredible community they're building from youth players all the way to the professional stage,' said Kim Kardashian, co-founder & chief creative officer, Skims. 'Together, we look forward to inspiring confidence and empowering athletes at every level through innovative products, community activations, and storytelling that celebrates the athletes on and off the court.' Volleyball has become the #1 team sport among girls in the United States, thanks to LOVB's grassroots-to-pro movement and the LA28 Olympics approaching, according to Skims. The partnership looks accelerate the future of professional women's volleyball, as well as empower girls and women both in sports and beyond. "Partnering with Skims is an incredible milestone for our league and clubs — their dedication to empowering women and celebrating confidence aligns perfectly with our mission to elevate our athletes of every age, and accelerate growth of the sport of volleyball,' said Michelle McGoldrick, LOVB's chief business officer. 'Together, we're not only supporting our remarkable athletes on their journey to becoming household names, but also helping to inspire the next generation of players and fans.' Earlier this year, Skims revealed its first luxury collaboration with Italian luxury brand, Roberto Cavalli.