"Demand is slowing and the entire profession is being prevented from simply doing their job because of these Games," said the letter, seen by AFP.

World record holder Kevin Mayer of France has been ruled out of the decathlon at the Paris 2024 Olympics due to a thigh injury, the French Olympic Committee said on Thursday.

World number three Carlos Alcaraz edged closer to an Olympic Games showdown against Novak Djokovic on Thursday with a storming display which brought the queen of Spain to her feet.

“I did not need special equipment. I’m a natural, a natural shooter,” Dikec reportedly told Turkish media after winning the medal.

After winning Commonwealth gold in 2022, Montag said: "Towards the end of the Holocaust (in mid-January 1945) they marched through snow and cold for days on end in little sandals and hardly any clothing.

World number seven Zheng triumphed 6-2, 7-5 and will face either Croatia's Donna Vekic or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the gold medal match.

Pan smashed his own record with a time of 46.40 seconds in the last race of the night at the La Defense Arena on Wednesday. Australian silver medallist Kyle Chalmers was a massive 1.08 seconds behind.

With her victory, Yang added "Olympic champion" to a resume that already included world record-holder and 2017 world champion.

An ambition from Paris Olympics organisers to cut the carbon footprint of catering at this year's eco-friendly Games has run into a problem: the huge appetites of meat-loving athletes.

Ecuador's Brian Pintado won the first athletics Olympic gold medal of the Paris Games on Thursday with victory in the men's 20-kilometre walk.

Defending champions Canada reached the quarterfinals of the women's Olympic football tournament on Wednesday thanks to a 1-0 win over Colombia in Nice hours after they had an appeal against their six-point deduction dismissed.

Rafael Nadal admitted he may have played at Roland Garros for the final time after he and Carlos Alcaraz were dumped out of the Olympics men's doubles on Wednesday.

There will be 18 gold medals up for grabs in France, including four each in rowing and swimming, plus two each in judo, sailing and athletics, while Olympic champions will also be crowned in shooting, artistic gymnastics, and fencing.

Pan powered to the finish in 46.40sec, beating the world record time of 46.80 he had set in February in Doha. It was China's first swimming gold of the Paris Games.

American great Ledecky again set new standards, cementing her reputation as the greatest distance swimmer the sport has known.

Nadal ends the Games without the third Olympic gold medal he craved on what could well be his last appearance on his beloved Parisian clay.

The Frenchman will also go for gold later on Wednesday in the 200m breaststroke.

The Japanese picked up his second gold in Paris after helping his country become victorious in the team final two days ago.

When doctors x-rayed his spine after the crash in 2021, "they said maybe I'll never walk normally again," an emotional Lind told AFP after his win on Wednesday.

For Ni, a former world champion with China who now represents Luxembourg, her stint in Paris was a dream come true.