Culture | The sports page

Could a scaled-back Olympics still be good?

Faster, higher, cheaper, smaller

Team Australia members stand on a balcony at their residence in the Olympic Village
Photograph: AP

ARIANE TITMUS has, by any measure, had a successful Paris Olympics. The Australian swimmer won golds in the 400 metres freestyle, defeating one of the strongest fields in history, and the 4x200 metres freestyle relay. She picked up silvers in two further events. But Ms Titmus is not happy. Talking to reporters, she grumbled that conditions at the Olympic village in Saint Denis were “not made for high performance”, and seemingly blamed them for her failure to break her own world record in the 400 metres.

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