Sports boot

A sports boot comprising:

• a rigid shell base designed to hold a foot of a user, the shell base extending between a front and a rear of the boot along a longitudinal vertical median plane and comprising:
• a sole;
• a medial side and a lateral side extending upwardly from the sole;
• the medial and lateral sides being non-overlapping;
• at least respective outer surface portions of the medial and lateral sides being transversely spaced apart by a recess or opening extending longitudinally along a top of the shell base;
• each of the medial and lateral sides of the shell base having a concavity facing the sole, the sole and the medial and lateral sides of the shell base defining a foot-receiving cavity;
• and
• a shell-base tightening mechanism movable between a loosened configuration and a tightened configuration and designed, in the tightened configuration, to tighten the shell base around the foot of the user at the foot-receiving cavity, the shell-base tightening mechanism comprising:
• a filiform element configured to tighten the medial and lateral sides towards one another and toward the sole;
• a rack comprising a rigid tongue extending, in the tightened configuration of the tightening mechanism, between the medial and lateral sides, over the foot-receiving cavity, over the recess or opening, and through the longitudinal vertical median plane of the shell base;
• the rack further comprising a notched element fixed on the tongue, the notched element comprising a plurality of spaced apart notches;
• and
• a lever connected to the filiform element, the lever having a portion engaged in a selective one of the plurality of notches above the recess or opening at least in the tightened configuration to thereby connect the lever to the rack;
• in the loosened configuration:
• the lever is in a non-force-applying position;
• and
• the medial and lateral sides of the shell base are in a foot-insertion position;
• and
• in the tightened configuration:
• the lever is in foot-holding position;
• the medial and lateral sides of the shell base are closer together than in the foot-insertion position;
• and
• the rack transversely straddles and extends across the recess or opening of the shell base;
• wherein the rigid tongue has two longitudinal edges;
• wherein the notched element has two longitudinal edges;
• and
• wherein the two longitudinal edges of the notched element are spaced inward and apart from the two longitudinal edges of the rigid tongue.