The scenario raises questions about the selection process and effectiveness of the scholarship programme in improving athletes' performance on the global stage.

Pakistan's medal prospects are undercut by modesty codes which dissuade women from participating in sport.

Jacobs timed a season's best of 10.02 seconds to claim gold. Italian teammate Chituru Ali took silver in 10.05sec, with Briton Romel Glave claiming bronze in 10.06sec.

His role in Paris as an advisor and ambassador for socially responsible business is a departure from his usual work -- and is all the more surprising given the reputation of the Olympics for embracing mega-projects and corporate sponsors.

The Matildas captain, one of the biggest names in women's football, ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in January and her father declared months ago that she would not be fit for Paris.

The French security services worry Moscow could be seeking to disrupt the Games.

The march of English globally has long infuriated French governments.

"The Olympic flame that we are lighting today symbolises this hope for a better future," said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

Organisers of the Paris Olympics are to distribute 220,000 condoms to athletes who want to get romantic during this year's Games in the City of Love.

"It is very difficult from a psychological and physical viewpoint to take part in two competitions like that one after the other, in the summer, without having any holiday," Deschamps admitted on Thursday.

Andy Spalding, an academic and author who studies corruption in sporting "mega-events" such as the Olympics or the football World Cup, believes French authorities are showing they are serious about delivering a clean Games.

A "saddened and disappointed" Manny Pacquiao conceded Monday his Olympic boxing dream was over after the ring great was denied a berth at this year's Paris games.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi congratulated the Argentina Under-23 team for their win 1-0 win over rivals Brazil to book a spot in this year's Paris Olympics.

Champions in Rio 2016 and the Covid-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, Brazil only needed a draw against their arch continental rivals on the final day of the South American pre-Olympic tournament in Venezuela.

Podium finishers at the upcoming Paris Olympics will be rewarded with a piece of the Eiffel Tower, organisers said on Thursday, unveiling the event’s medals which are set with hexagon-shaped tokens forged out of scrap metal from the monument.

The International Olympic Committee added that there were currently only eight athletes from Russia and three from Belarus who had qualified as neutral athletes.

Organisers said nearly 70,000 of these newly released tickets would cost 24 euros ($26), the lowest price category of any of the tickets sold for the Games.

Police raided the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics on Tuesday just over a year before the opening ceremony of the quadrennial sporting showpiece.

Phase two of sales got underway on May 11, with nearly 1.5 million individual tickets available, after over three million were sold as multi-event packs during phase one

Mbappe signed a new contract with PSG at the end of last season to keep him at the Qatar-owned club until 2025, although French media reports have indicated that the last year of that deal is optional and down to the player