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• Paris get Olympic Games under way with stylish opening ceremony

  Paris kicked off the 2024 Olympic Games by making history with the first opening ceremony to be held outside on a rainy night in France.

  It is the first time in 100 years that the Games have been held in the French capital, and despite the constant showers, thousands of Olympians from the 205 delegations celebrated as they travelled down the River Seine on boats and barges.

  During the nearly four-hour sprawling ceremony, spectators were treated to performances by Lady Gaga, Aya Nakamura and Celine Dion as the city showed off the story of France while commemorating Olympic history.

  On a tour of the city, Paris' most well-known landmarks, including the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral, were on show as fans packed in around the parade route to get a glimpse of the showcase.

  The Olympic flag was delivered to the Eiffel Tower on the back of a mechanical horse travelling down the river, while a masked individual carried the torch across the city.

  An incredible light show on the Tower then restarted the torch relay, as Zinedine Zidane reappeared to hand it to two-time gold medallist Rafael Nadal.

  The Spaniard, with the help of fellow tennis icon Serena Williams, American sprinter Carl Lewis and Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci carried the torch back down the river on its way to the cauldron.

  Some of France's best Olympians helped carry it the rest of the way before judoka Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-Jose Perec lit the flame in the hot air balloon cauldron, which rose high above the Parisian sky, to officially mark the start of the Games.

  More than 10,500 athletes will compete across 32 sports at the Games, which will close on August 11.

• “The favourite is Thompson”-Boldon highlights Jamaican champion as man to beat in 100m in Paris

  Trinidadian four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon has named Jamaican sprinting sensation Kishane Thompson as his favourite to take 100m gold at the Olympic Games in Paris.

  Thompson, 23, is currently the world leader in the event after running a personal best 9.77 to win the 100m title at the JAAA/Puma National Senior Championships at the National Stadium in Kingston in June.

  The MVP Track Club-trained sprinter also produced times of 9.82 and 9.84 in the heats and semi-finals, respectively, at those national championships and, most recently, ran 9.91 shutting down to win at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Hungary on July 9.

  “Thompson is the favourite,” Boldon said in an interview with LetsRundotcom on YouTube on Friday.

  “I know Noah (Lyles) is the World champion. I think Noah made it a little bit more interesting by running that 9.81 into a headwind which kind of almost converts to a 9.77 but there’s no way you can look at the way in which Thompson ran that 9.77 and just go ‘Oh Noah will beat him.’ Noah has his hands full with that guy,” Boldon said.

  Blazing speed acknowledged, one thing that Thompson lacks that his other competitors don’t is experience competing at the highest level of the sport with this being his first time representing Jamaica at any level.

  If there is anything to prevent Thompson from delivering on the form that he’s shown so far this season, Boldon believes that would be this lack of experience on a stage like the Olympic Games compared to his peers.

  “There are things which I see people completely ignoring. Kishane Thompson has not been under the microscope of Olympic favourite. Rounds are a great equalizer. Noah has the medals that he does because of how well he runs rounds. Is Noah suddenly a lock for the silver? No but he does have his hands full,” he said.

  “There are others who are going to be in the 100m that are used to the pressure and pressure is a big thing. If he’s able to pull this off, you write books about stuff like that,” he added.

   Thompson's quest for Olympic glory will begin in the heats of the men's 100m beginning on Saturday' August 3.

   

• ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future

  England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.

  Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.

  Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.

  Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.

  Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.

  "Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].

  "We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.

  "You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.

  "We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."