Sport

Records lost to a refereeing error, rules born of an incident, feats that stayed obscure: sport beyond the trophy cabinet.

340 anecdotes, most recent first.
Highlights

A helicopter was used to cheat in the Giro d'Italia

Francesco Moser won the 1984 Giro d'Italia at the end of an event marked by numerous controversies against Laurent Fignon. The Italian notably benefited from a last-minute course change, unfair penalties, and a revolutionary bicycle with lenticular wheels. During the final time trial, the race helicopter positioned itself in front of Fignon to slow him down and behind Moser to propel him, allowing him to make up his one minute and twenty-one second deficit.

2026-02-22

Bud Spencer fut le premier nageur italien sous la minute au 100 mètres

Carlo Pedersoli est un sportif et acteur italien qui a marqué l'histoire de la natation de son pays. De retour de l'étranger, il réalisa un temps de 59 secondes et 5 centièmes le 19 septembre 1950. Il décrocha par la suite sept titres nationaux et devint champion d'Italie de water-polo avec la Lazio en 1956.

2026-07-10

The 1954 German world champions played under amphetamines

The West German national football team won the 1954 FIFA World Cup under the influence of stimulants. The players were indeed administered Pervitin, a drug disguised as a simple vitamin C treatment. This manipulation was brought to light by an academic report commissioned in 2010 by the German Olympic Sports Confederation.

2026-03-04

A very rare double for hockey player Steve Yzerman

In 2002, Steve Yzerman achieved the feat of winning the Stanley Cup and the Olympic gold medal during the same year. He thus joined a very exclusive circle of players having accomplished this performance, alongside Brendan Shanahan and Ken Morrow. This consecration occurred even though he was suffering from a serious right knee injury discovered during the Salt Lake City Olympic Games.

2026-10-16

The youngest NHL All-Star Game player was 18 years old

Stephen Yzerman is an ice hockey player who broke a precocity record at the very beginning of his professional career. He took part in the 36th All-Star Game which was held on January 31, 1984. This historic selection occurred when he was only 18 years, 8 months and 22 days old.

2026-10-15

The origin of Stephen Yzerman's number 19

Stephen Yzerman wore the number 19 from his beginnings in the Ontario Hockey League to the National Hockey League. He originally wished to wear the number 9 of his role model Gordie Howe, but it had already been retired in Detroit since 1972. He therefore decided to add a 1 in front of the 9 to imitate another of his idols, Bryan Trottier.

2026-10-14

Tattooing is officially recognized as an art form

Tattooing was recognized as an artistic expression in October 2023 by the Académie des Arts-Sciences-Lettres. This cultural institution marked a turning point by awarding its vermeil medal to this practice. The prize was thus awarded for the first time to a professional in the field, the tattoo artist Mikael de Poissy.

2026-10-12

Cavour cedes Garibaldi's hometown to France

In 1860, Count Cavour cedes the city of Nice to France. This locality is however the hometown of the revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. This transfer of territories constitutes the starting point of their first political disagreements.

2026-10-11

Christian Karembeu was nicknamed the Crazy Horse

Christian Karembeu received the nickname Crazy Horse from his France team teammates in 1998. This moniker was attributed to him because of his great activity on the pitch and his long hair. This player with a physical and very enduring style thus distinguished himself by his constant commitment in the middle of the pitch.

2026-10-11

Fines for outlaw tattoo artists

Tattooing has been subject to strict health regulations in France since decree number 2008-149 of February 19, 2008. Professionals must notably declare their activity to the prefecture, follow hygiene training, and use sterile or single-use equipment. Failure to comply with these required measures exposes offenders to fifth-class tickets, meaning fines of up to 1,500 euros.

2026-10-11

A hockey player pushes his entire team to enlist in the war

Hobey Baker is a great figure of American ice hockey and the first player of this sport to become a star in his country. His departure for the First World War led to the immediate enlistment of nine players from Princeton University. Deprived of its personnel, the team could not play the 1917-1918 season.

2026-10-11

A professional football club was bought for one euro

The Racing Club de Strasbourg football club was sold in 2003 for a symbolic euro. This sale occurred while the structure was operating as a professional sports limited company. The buyer was the holding company EuroRacing, which notably counted Egon Gindorf and Philippe Ginestet among its shareholders.

2026-10-11

Nessa outruns the deer

Nessa is the seventh and last of the Valier of Middle-earth, known for her great speed and agility. She holds a special affection for the deer of the forests that accompany her during her walks. Her legendary speed allowed her to win against them in races on the green plains of Valinor.

2026-10-06

The DAMS racing team abandoned Formula 1 due to a lack of money

The French team DAMS abandoned its project to participate in the Formula 1 world championship. Jean-Paul Driot had only raised half of the 15 million francs deemed necessary and had not paid the 500,000 dollar deposit requested by the Fédération internationale de l'automobile on time. Due to an insufficient budget, the team stopped testing its GD-01 single-seater to redirect itself towards the 1996 international Formula 3000 championship with Jean-Philippe Belloc and Laurent Redon.

2026-10-04

A Formula 1 car described as a farm machine

The DAMS GD-01 is a single-seater presented in 1995 by the French team for the 1996 Formula 1 World Championship. Designed with an outdated architecture and aerodynamic underdevelopment, it was immediately described as a farm machine by the observers present. Its insufficient performance would have prevented its drivers from qualifying for races due to the 107% rule.

2026-10-04

A massive anti-doping control on the 1977 Tour de France

The cyclist Luis Ocaña received a ten-minute penalty during the eighteenth stage of the Tour de France. This sanction followed a positive anti-doping test for a stimulant detected during the race. Other famous participants, including the Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk and the Portuguese Joaquim Agostinho, suffered the same punishment during this event.

2026-10-04

Bixente Lizarazu is a European Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion

Bixente Lizarazu became European veteran champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu following his sports career change. He won this title in 2009 in the blue belt level 1 lightweight category. He subsequently obtained his black belt in 2016.

2026-10-04

A heart condition was detected before Nicolas Batum's NBA draft

In the spring of 2008, basketball player Nicolas Batum registered for the NBA draft. During a medical examination with the Toronto Raptors, the franchise's cardiologist spotted a heart anomaly. A second opinion examination conducted in Cleveland over two days finally allowed him to be declared fit to play.

2026-10-04

Skiing pulled by animals

Skijoring is an unusual sporting discipline consisting of a ski race behind horses or dogs. This sport was presented as a demonstration event during the Saint-Moritz Winter Olympic Games. This event allowed this Nordic leisure activity to appear for the only time in the 1928 Olympic program.

2026-10-04

The televised beginnings of the Winter Olympics in the United States

The first broadcast of the Winter Olympics on American television dates back to 1960. The CBS network had then acquired some excerpts of the Squaw Valley Olympic Games in the United States for the paltry sum of $50,000. This first experience paved the way for increasingly significant coverage of the event by American networks over the decades.

2026-10-04

The spectacular 1988 Jamaican bobsleigh run

The Jamaican four-man bobsleigh team experienced a spectacular crash during the 1988 Olympic Games. At the turn called the Kreisel, Dudley Stokes lost control of the bobsleigh which hit the side of the track and flipped over. The team members still crossed the line by getting out of the vehicle to push it to the end of the track, thus becoming unranked.

2026-10-04

Andy Diouf is called up by Zinédine Zidane to the France national team

Andy Diouf is a French footballer called up to the national team by the new manager Zinédine Zidane. This significant event took place on September 18, 2026. It was the very first call-up of his career with the senior team.

2026-10-04

Como achieves a historic Champions League qualification

Como 1907 is an Italian professional football club that qualified for the Champions League thanks to a three to one victory against US Cremonese. This performance was made possible by Lucas Da Cunha, who scored a brace during this final day of the 2025-2026 season. The French striker thus completed his team's success on May 24, 2026 in Serie A.

2026-10-04

Patrick Tambay outclassed Ayrton Senna on the water

Patrick Tambay defeated Ayrton Senna during an improvised water-skiing duel in 1985. The Brazilian had challenged the French driver on the lake of Klagenfurt am Wörthersee on the sidelines of the Austrian Grand Prix, certain of winning thanks to his regular training. The two-time Grand Prix winner nevertheless dominated his rival with ease, leaving him a lasting memory that he recalled thirty years later.

2026-10-04

A major Argentine football club takes its name from a Parisian club

Racing Club de Avellaneda is a football club founded in 1903 by students from Buenos Aires. The name of this Argentine institution comes from Racing, runner-up in France in 1902, discovered in a magazine by the founder Germán Vidaillac. The team subsequently won numerous titles, including the Intercontinental Cup in 1967.

2026-10-04

The origin of the expression Patria Boba in Colombia

Antonio Nariño coined the expression Patria Boba in the pages of his newspaper Los Toros de Fucha in 1823. This free publication distributed in Bogota referred to an hacienda located on the banks of the río Fucha. The name aimed to describe the historical period between the declarations of independence of 1810 and the definitive victory over the Spanish forces.

2026-10-04

The Salt Lake City Olympic Games were marred by corruption

Salt Lake City obtained the hosting of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games thanks to an elaborate corruption scheme. The organizers offered scholarships, land deals, and gifts to IOC members, such as two rifles worth 2,000 dollars given to Juan Antonio Samaranch. This affair led to the expulsion of 10 IOC members and the implementation of much stricter transparency rules.

2026-10-02