Canada's Wyatt Sanford guaranteed a boxing medal at Paris Olympics

Wyatt Sanford will be bringing home a medal from the Paris Olympics – it's just a matter of which colour it will be.

The Canadian boxer won his quarterfinal against Uzbekistan's Ruslan Abdullaev in the men's 63.5-kilogram weight class on Thursday, sending Sanford to the semifinals and guaranteeing him a medal result.

Semifinal bout losers both receive bronze.

"It feels amazing. I am sure it will kick in when I meet my parents soon," Sanford said of being assured a medal.

"I'm super excited and super thrilled that we were able to bring home a medal for Canada in boxing. It hasn't been done for 28 years."

Sanford, of Kennetcook, N.S., will face Sofiane Oumiha of France on Sunday (6:30 a.m. ET on CBC Gem, CBC Olympics app). If he wins, he will fight for gold on Aug. 7.

"It was a great fight. Never count me out after the first round," said Sanford, who was trailing his opponent at that time. "I'm used to losing the first round, but it's my heart, my cardio that will push through, so I could win the second and the third."

WATCH | Sanford punches his way to an Olympic medal:

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

The two-time Olympic silver medallist picked up the injury as he fell heavily during the 110-metre hurdles leg of a triathlon at the Paris Diamond League earlier this month.

Mayer, whose record of 9,126 points has stood since 2018, explained he had not fully recovered from the injury.

"Unfortunately, the tests weren't conclusive, and they don't give us any hope of being competitive tomorrow. That's the law of sport and it's tough. I won't be at the start of the decathlon," the 32-year-old wrote on