Midi Olympique is a French bi-weekly newspaper specializing in rugby, belonging to the La Dépêche group and based partly in Toulouse and partly in Paris. The first edition was published on 2 September 1929, meaning it is one of the oldest French weekly still in existence (after Le Canard enchaîné). Jean-Michel Baylet is the director of the publication and Jacques Verdier the managing director. Nicknamed ''Midol'' or ''le jaune'' (yellow) in reference to the color of the paper is made of, it mainly covers news from rugby, from the professional

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

league to the amateur teams of the most modest levels (Fourth Series), and it also devotes a page to

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

. It was published weekly on a Monday until Spring 2006 when a second edition began to be released each week on Friday. The Monday edition is nicknamed the "rouge" (red) and the Friday the "vert" (green) in reference to the different color used for the

nameplate A nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Nameplates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone's written name. Nameplates primarily serve an informat ...

of the two editions. In 1998 Midi Olympique launched its website, which was named renamed Rugbyrama.fr in 2000 in partnership with Eurosport, and changed the formula of the newspaper under the leadership of its managing editor Jacques Verdier. In 2005, the newspaper grew to printing 140,000 copies on Monday and 120,000 of the Friday edition for a circulation of around 89,000 copies each issue, steadily increasing around 2% per year since 1999. Special issues are published at the beginning and end of the season to introduce or summarize past or future events. Every first Monday of the month, the newspaper comes with a magazine supplement, "Midi Olympique Magazine".

The Oscars du Midi

Since 1954, the newspaper awards the Midi Olympique Oscars annually, rewarding the best players of the month and the year. Since 2003, the awards also reward the three best coaches in the season, and the best player in the world and the best European player. Finally, Midi Olympique awards each month the Oscar for best player of the month from the Top 14 and ProD2 combined. Argentinian

Juan Martín Hernández Juan Martín Hernández (born August 7, 1982, in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine rugby union player. A mainstay of the Argentina national team ''The Pumas''. He played for the club Toulon in the French Top 14 competition. His 2010 move to ...

is the only non-French winner of the overall player award, winning in both 2007 and 2008. New Zealander

Byron Kelleher Byron Terence Kelleher (born 3 December 1976 in Dunedin, New Zealand) is a former rugby union scrum-half who played for Stade Toulouse in the French Top 14 and has played 57 tests for the All Blacks. He was a very aggressive player, who speciali ...

finished second in 2008 and Fijian

Napolioni Nalaga Napolioni Vonowale Nalaga (born 7 April 1986) is a Fijian rugby union footballer. He plays as a wing, flanker and Centre for London Irish. He is nicknamed Napoleon or Naps or Napo. His father, Kavekini Nalaga also represented Fiji in the 80' ...

tied for third place in 2009 before a rule change was introduced for the 2010 awards which saw foreign players excluded from the main award. Instead, a new category was formed for the best foreign player in the French league.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
1929 establishments in France Biweekly newspapers Mass media in Toulouse Publications established in 1929 Sports newspapers published in France