Olympic organizers canceled part of the triathlon practice in the River Seine planned for Saturday, saying heavy rain was likely to have made the waterway too polluted to swim in. Only the running and cycling elements of triathlon mixed relay training will take place, Paris 2024 organizers announced in a statement.  

Practice was scrapped due to "the heavy rain over the last two nights, which have been particularly intense upstream of Paris, and the expected drop in water quality as a result."

French authorities have invested $1.5 billion over the last decade to clean up the Seine, including in major new water treatment and storage facilities in and around Paris. But heavy downpours, such as those on Thursday night, still overwhelm the city's underground drains and sewage system, leading to untreated effluent being released into the river.  

The on-off water cleanliness issue has been a major talking point at the Paris Games, with pollution forcing a 24-hour postponement of the men's triathlon on Tuesday.  

Both the men and the women finally dived into the Seine on Wednesday after the pollution levels were "assessed as compliant."

The battle of Bordeaux

Hosts France's last-eight men's football tie with Argentina descended into ugly scenes as Jean-Philippe Mateta's early goal confirmed Les Bleus' place in the semi-finals on Friday.

Tensions spilled over at full-time in Bordeaux with rival players and staff clashing on the pitch and confrontations continuing down the tunnel.

Striker Mateta struck five minutes into the quarter-final, meeting former Crystal Palace team-mate Michael Olise's corner with a near-post header. That proved enough for the hosts, coached by Thierry Henry, to reach the last four, where they face Egypt.

The game was the first meeting of the nations since Argentina players were recorded singing racist chants about their French counterparts as they celebrated winning the Copa America last month. FIFA announced it would investigate the chants, which targeted France's star striker Kylian Mbappe among others and included racist and homophobic insults.

The sides had last met in the final of the 2022 World Cup, which Argentina won on penalties. Javier Mascherano's men saw their anthem loudly jeered on Friday and Henry said his midfielder Enzo Millot, who had been substituted late on, was shown a red card after the final whistle.

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For the first time since Cameroon's triumph in 2000, the Olympic men's football winners will not come from Latin America. France next take on Egypt, who beat Paraguay 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, in Lyon on Monday.

Spain, 3-0 victors over Japan, face Morocco in the other semi-final. Morocco outclassed the USA 4-0 in Paris.

IBA cash boost to "sorry" Carini 

The International Boxing Association (IBA) will award Italy's Angela Carini – who lost her welterweight round-of-16 bout against Algerian Imane Khelif in 46 seconds on Thursday – $50,000 in prize money, it said on Friday.

Carini pulled out in the first round after the Algerian, who is at the heart of a gender row, pummelled her with a barrage of punches.

The IBA, which was stripped of its international recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year, said Carini would receive $50,000, her federation a further $25,000 and her coach an additional $25,000.

"I do not understand why they killed women's boxing," IBA president Umar Kremlev said. "Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety. I could not look at her tears."

Algeria's Khelif, and Taiwan double world champion Lin Yu-ting, were cleared to compete in Paris despite being disqualified at the 2023 world championships after failing IBA eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women's events.

In an interview with Italian daily Gazetta dello Sport published on Friday, Carini said she did not mean to stir up such tension.

"All this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent, she had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight," she said.

Marchand 'just perfect'

Swimmer Leon Marchand called it a "perfect week" after winning his fourth gold at La Defense Arena with an emphatic victory in the 200m individual medley on Friday in front of an ecstatic home crowd that included French president Emmanuel Macron.

Marchand won in one minute, 54.06 seconds - the second-fastest time in history and an Olympic record - to become the first male swimmer since American record-breaker Michael Phelps at Beijing 2008 to win four individual golds in a single Games.

"I don't think anything went wrong this week. It was just perfect," said a beaming Marchand, who had already landed 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke and 400m individual medley titles.

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