Nadal, the 2008 singles gold medallist, will pair up with Alcaraz in a tennis dream team at Roland Garros, looking to also add to the doubles title he won with close friend Marc Lopez at Rio in 2016.

“Considering the magnitude of the Paris Olympics, my preparation is not good enough,” Sonia told The Daily Star on the eve of her departure to Paris on July 20.

The 37-year-old, a two-time Olympic champion, is planning to play in the singles and doubles at his fifth Games.

“I want to thank the Bangladesh Olympic Association [BOA] for giving me the opportunity to carry the national flag, which is a great honor for me,” said Sagor at the official press conference at the BOA today.

French security forces began locking down large parts of central Paris on Thursday ahead of the hugely complex Olympics opening ceremony next week on the river Seine.

The ceremony, staged for the first time outside a stadium, will involve around 80 boats ferrying international athletes on a six km (3.7 mile) route along the river Seine towards the Eiffel Tower, said the official, Lambis Konstantinidis.

"I thought my father had never asked for anything and this might be his last request. So I gathered all my strength and agreed."

Otherwise, the marathon swimming event will take place at the reserve site of Vaires-sur-Marne

Ateequr Rahman, the first international gold medal-winning shooter from Bangladesh, breathed his last at the Suhrawardy Medical College at around 10:00am today.

Sports stars have started voicing their support for the quota protests and condemning the violence unleashed on the protesters across the country over the last two days.

The 38-year-old Spanish left-hander has a protected ranking of ninth to put himself into the field for the Flushing Meadows fortnight, which begins on August 26.

Robiul Islam will become the ninth shooter from Bangladesh to compete in the Olympic Games through wild-card entries. The multiple-medal winner in junior and senior level, in bot air rifle and air gun events, dreams of becoming the first shooter from the country to make it into the final round of the Olympics.

"I don't have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play on this high level."

National chess champion FIDE Master (FM) Manon Reja Neer narrowly missed out on attaining the title of International Master (IM) after finishing second in the Under-18 Open Group of the 7th Western Asian Youth Chess Championship in Sri Lanka today.

"So let's see if at the end of my career it's going to be 25, 30, 15, four (Slams). I don't know. All I want to say is I want to keep enjoying and let's see what the future brings to me."

It’s an incredible honour to represent Bangladesh on the world’s biggest stage. The wildcard entry is a recognition of the hard work and dedication I've put into my sport, and it’s a great opportunity to showcase my abilities and make my country proud.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz produced an utterly ruthless performance to dismantle Serbia's Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) in a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final to successfully defend his title on Sunday.

Djokovic will be playing in his 10th Wimbledon final and 37th at the 75 majors in which he has played.

Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic defeated Italy's Jasmine Paolini to win the Wimbledon women's title on Saturday for her second Grand Slam singles triumph.

Daniil Medvedev bizarrely called umpire Eva Asderaki a "small cat" during the Wimbledon rant that earned the Russian a code violation in his semi-final loss against Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.