Olympic gold
The Paris Games have come around at just the right time, providing welcome relief from a relentless news cycle — but also with a touch of drama and controversy.
There’s always been something special about the Olympics — and watching from afar in Australia, it feels like Paris 2024 is living up to the billing.
The summer games only come around every four years; last time around we were deprived of a normal event, with the Tokyo games delayed by a year and then taking place in front of next to no people due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s games have felt like a throwback to the kind of Olympics we are used to — big, joyful crowds savouring sporting excellence in various arenas; fun and obscure activities we only tune into on a quadrennial basis like table tennis, competitive skateboarding and BMX; athletic competition with countries we don’t often encounter outside this event.
Paris 2024 is also taking place right in the middle of an exceptionally intense and quite exhausting macro news cycle, headlined by the incredible twists and turns in the US election campaign and the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Not to mention some big stories locally including for Capital Brief, such as our recent break on the federal Cabinet reshuffle, and our coverage of Canva’s acquisition of Leonardo.Ai this week.
