Paris 2024: Day 6 – The life of an athlete – part duex

Reports have come back from Paris breathlessly about what the Olympics is lacking. The accommodation is substandard. The food isn’t up to scratch and unsuitable for athletes. It’s hard to get around, and the city is too distracting.

Paris sounds like a good idea on paper, but in practice it might just be too tough for the life of a modern athlete,

Surely it wasn’t this bad in the past – when athletes were treated with the respect they should be afforded.

A close-up of a newspaper

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A close-up of a newspaper article

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Sorry – HPN got confused. Were you talking about the current 2024 Olympics being held in Paris or the ones that were held in 1924? HPN thought the discussion was about 1924, where the accommodation left a lot to be desired and athletes complained about it.

Now you mention it, there’s been a bit about the current issues with the village too – from the food to the beds and the air-conditioning.

Black and white photo of streamers hanging between a boat about to depart and a large crowd seeing it off

‘OLYMPIC TEAM SAILS FROM SYDNEY’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 1 May 1924

The 1924 team was equally heralded by fans on departure – on ships and not via the air. Despite the substandard conditions Australian atheletes were able to win a then record three gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics, alongside one silver medal and two bronze medals. The team was headed by champion 16 year old swimmer Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton, who one a gold, a silver and a bronze himself.

Still, the complaints continued when they arrived home.

A close-up of a newspaper

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A close-up of a newspaper

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Australian fans will be hoping the “poor” conditions of 2024 will be met with similar record setting successes on the fields of Paris.

Medal event of the day

Women All Around Artistic Gymnastics

A lot has been written about Simone Biles. That’s usually how you know someone is on the cusp of history. If she wins the event tonight she will become the first non-consecutive winner of the All Around title at the Olympics ever, and the first two-time winner since Věra Čáslavská in 1964-1968.

That’s a long damn time. She currently has five skills named after her, with a real chance of a sixth to come. So far she has won five gold medals in the Olympics, with a real chance of four more to come in Paris. If she does she will match Larisa Latynina’s nine gold medals – the most for any female gymnast.

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