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Introduction: The study aimed to interpret the evolution of the physical performance of rugby sevens and rugby union French international players from 2009 to 2020., Methods: 631 players from the French national teams were divided into three groups: forwards, backs and sevens. The performances evaluated were anthropometric characteristics, strength tests (1 RM bench press and 1 RM pull-up), aerobic capacity (YoYo IR1 test) and speed tests (10 m, 20 m and 50 m). The best performance of each player over a two-year period was kept for the analysis. Fluctuations were observed across the decade., Results: The anthropometric characteristics of female rugby sevens players tend to be taller and lighter than rugby union players. In rugby sevens, a moderate increase in maximal aerobic capacity was observed while sprint performances remained similar. Improvements in height and weight were observed over the last 10 years in rugby union players with a difference between the position. A moderate increase in sprinting performances and strength were observed both in backs and forwards., Discussion: The overall improvement of strength and conditioning performances and anthropometrical evolution reflects the rugby environment characterized by the arrival of professional contracts and the structuration process of the clubs which allows a better quality of training and easier access to the infrastructures of the very high level., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Imbert, Piscione, Couderc, Joncheray and Daussin.)

Objective: To measure the impact of restrictions due to COVID on the proportion of matches won at home, away and draw in professional soccer and rugby union. Materials and Methods: Two samples of professional soccer and rugby union matches were collected from 2012-13 to 2020-21 seasons. For soccer, data involved first and second division matches of the England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Scotland, Greece, Portugal, and Turkey championships. For rugby union, championships concerned are Premiership Rugby, Celtic League, Top 14, and Pro D2. The proportions of home, away wins and draw were calculated and compared. A chi-square test of independence between years and types of result was realized to identify an overall inhomogeneity. Results: The proportion of away matches won between the 2012-13 and 2020-21 seasons increased significantly from 28.5 ± 1.2% to 32.5 ± 1.5% in soccer and from 38.0 ± 3.6% to 42.8 ± 5.0% in rugby union. In Premiership Rugby championship, the victory percentage at home dropped from 55.8 ± 3.1% when tifosi were present to 45.8 ± 12.8% when they were not. Conclusion: The home advantage was drastically reduced in empty stadiums for several European soccer and rugby union professional championships. It vanished in the Premiership Rugby and Celtic League during the 2020-21 season., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Sedeaud, De Larochelambert, Schipman and Toussaint.)

International elite Para swimmers form a large portion of the overall multi-medalist winning population. For the highest performing Para swimmers, world class performances were achieved across different strokes. The aim of this study was to quantify the level of involvement across different events and to examine this in relation to the level of performance. The performances in swimming speed of the top 100 females and males for both Para- and non-disabled swimmers were collected in 11 race events between 2009 and 2019 (4,400 performances for 307 Para females and 365 Para males, 605 non-disabled females, and 715 non-disabled males). We tallied the number of events in which each swimmer was involved. Swimmers were grouped according to the total number of race events in which they participated. Then the association between involvement and level of performance was investigated. Para swimmers with impairment from classes seven to 14 were involved in a range of race events across different strokes. The most common combination for both Para and non-disabled athletes was over similarly distanced races of the same stroke (50 and 100 m freestyle). The more race events in which Para swimmers involved, the higher the level of performance that was achieved. This trend can partially be explained by the less concentrated competition pool for Para swimmers compared to able-bodied swimmers. Para swimmers with minimal and no physical impairment perform in multiple race events more often than able-bodied swimmers. Fewer Para swimmers at the international level and a less concentrated competition pool could explain these differences., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Schipman, Saulière, Le Toquin, Marc, Forstmann, Toussaint and Sedeaud.)