The Olympic Torch Relay continues its intense and emotional journey since arriving in mainland France on 10 May with a grand ceremony in Marseille after a long and special journey from Greece aboard the 19th Century boat Belem. Seven days later, rugby was in the spotlight.

The ninth stafe of the Torch Relay set off from Revel to Toulouse and from Villemur-sur-Tarn to Colomiers. On Friday 17 May, the entire 'département' was buzzing with anticipation and gave the nearly 150 Olympic torchbearers a magnificient welcome. 

The Stade Toulousain champions then took centre stage in this rugby-mad city, with the famous scrum-half Antoine Dupont lighting the cauldron, Romain Ntamack and his father Émile, David Berty, Vincent Clerc and Maxime Médard. Bigflo and Oli and Thibo InShape were among them. 

A series of para-sport shows, concerts and sports activities immersed the public in the atmosphere of the Games. Para sports took centre stage at the Revel Belfry, with demonstrations of wheelchair biathlon and football for the blind. 

About a hundred kilometres away, in Villemur-sur-Tarn, a staggering 1,500 youngsters joined baritone Omar Hasan, also a charismatic representative of the local rugby scene, for a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise. Rieux-Volvestre provided the backdrop for an XL Games dance. 

The entire Pink City was lit up in the colours of the Torch Relay for the spectacle of a lifetime! The Olympic torch crossed the Place du Capitole, a major landmark, and made its way to the Saint-Sernin's Basilica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meanwhile, every generation of Stade Toulousain players gathered: Maxime Médard, who spent his entire career with the 'Red and Black', and two local heroes in Romain Ntamack and his father Émile. 

Three-time Six Nations champion Vincent Clerc was also on hand, as was David Berty, who now plays wheelchair rugby for Toulousain Olympique XIII. The end-of-the-day celebrations took place near the Ernest Wallon stadium, home of the Stade Toulousain. Antoine Dupont, the charismatic captain of the France and Stade Toulousain and winner of the 2021 World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year, was the final torchbearer of the day.

Coming from Aude, the day began in Revel with triple amputee Jérôme Bernard, a family man, entrepreneur and volunteer who has been fighting for years to make sport more accessible to people with disabilities. He set up an organisation to encourage disabled athletes to take on daring challenges together. He is living proof that anything is possible with enough determination and his latest adventure was completing the GR20 trail in Corsica.

The audience also met 2023 handball world champion Nodjialem Myaro, the Toulouse Football Club goalkeeper Guillaume Restes and Brianna Vidé, a para-fencer who will be competing at Paris 2024; as well as Coralie Gonzalez, a member of the French national handball team, and Claude Onesta, a player and star coach of the national handball team. Thibo InShape, a French YouTuber with over 18 million subscribers, and Bigflo & Oli, the top dogs of the Toulouse rap scene, also received a warm welcome on the streets. 

Toulouse is a badminton hotbed that has produced stars such as Bernard de Pérignon. The Team Relay, organised by the French Badminton Federation, shared strong values with Florence Delgal, a four-time French Para badminton champion in the women's doubles, as captain. As a teacher, she insists and repeats to her students the key values of personal transcendence, inclusion and sharing.

On Saturday, the Olympic torch will make its way towards the Atlantic and visit the Gers, or "Little Tuscany" as it's known. It will set off from L'Isle-Jourdain and pass through Mirande, Fleurance, Marciac, Condom and Nogaro before arriving in Auch. On 20 May, the '100 days to the Paralympic Games' will also be celebrated on the streets of the Relais de la Flamme, in the Pyrénées Atlantiques.

Marcell Jacobs is confident that he can dip under 10 seconds as he returns to Italy for Sprint Festival: his first European 100 metres race in the build up to his Olympic title defence in Paris this summer, Agence France-Presse reported Thursday. 

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has released the first 39 members of the athletes that will be representing Team SA in the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer this Wednesday in Johannesburg.

Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh set a new world record in the 400 medley on Thursday, winning with a time of 4:24.38 in Toronto, after also claiming victory in Budapest and Fukuoka to qualify for Paris 2024.

The International Olympic Committee and financial management firm Deloitte have jointly launched a global media campaign documenting the impact of historic Olympic ‘firsts’. Debuted 100 days before the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games, 'The First Effect' highlights some of the most trailblazing athletes whose achievements didn't make the podium. 

The University of Limoges' Centre for Law and Economics of Sport (CDES) claims that the 2024 Olympic Games will generate a net economic gain of somewhere between €6.7 billion and €11.1 billion for the Paris region.

This Thursday, the Olympic Torch made a leap back in time to explore the unique medieval heritage of the Aude. Nearly 110 Torchbearers carried the Flame from the fortress of Peyrepertuse to Carcassonne. Dimitri Pavadé, one of the relay captains, was in Carcassonne and Olivia Ruiz, one of France's most popular singers, lit the Olympic cauldron.

Over 50 members of the American fencing community - including former world sabre champion Nikolay Kovalev - have signed an open letter to the board of US Fencing (also known as USA Fencing) saying athletes have "no confidence" in its investigation of bout manipulation allegations.

As anticipation builds for the Paris 2024 Olympics, the spotlight shining on elite athletes and a question is being raised: Will this prestigious event reveal the next Paralympic sensation?

Olympic and Paralympic Games athletes will have access to a specially-designated nursery facility in the Olympic Village this summer, the governing body announced on its website.

The world body has assigned a stabilisation committee that will temporarily manage the national entity after its leaders and anti-doping officials were arrested on Monday because of a controversy regarding the covering of a Tunisian flag.

President Spyros Capralos presented Istanbul as the host of the fourth European Games to be held in 2027. He did so alongside the Mayor of the bicontinental city, Mr Ekrem İmamoğlu, who both highlighted the virtues of the great Turkish metropolis.

It has been revealed that around 30 individuals had the chance to take part in an international event under the Youth in Action programme, organised and led by ENGSO Youth in Larnaca, Cyprus, on 8 May.

Speaking exclusively to Inside The Games, Hugo Catrileo confirmed what he had said on social media, where he described World Athletics' decision to change the qualification system for Paris as a disgrace. "This decision has affected me psychologically and emotionally," he said.