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For a nation struggling with worsening COVID outbreaks and interminable lockdowns, the Tokyo Olympics couldn’t have come at a better time.
Australia has been transfixed by the competitions and by our breakout stars from the games: Ariarne Titmus, Jess Fox, Peter Bol, Logan Martin and so many more.
These athletes bring joy, amazement, pride and inspiration. And they are loved for it. But, as Matthew Klugman writes, the Tokyo Olympics have also given us clearer insight into the costs that such adoration entails.
Klugman says the vitriol directed at gymnast Simone Biles, for example, shows that when fans’ expectations are not met, they frequently react as if they have been personally betrayed. The racial dynamics of the stinging criticism and vilification directed at her, he notes, were striking.
Mental health issues were at the forefront during the games, but as Courtney Wilson and Andrew Bennie write, this can soon fade when the athletes return home to the question of … what’s next?
Their research on the experiences of 18 Australian athletes after the 2016 Rio Games shows how hard the transition to post-Olympic, “normal” life can be.
As one athlete explained to them, “When you get home it’s really lonely […] It’s quite depressing, and it is a little bit overwhelming, starting from square one again.”
We’ve also seen world records fall and personal bests aplenty on the sprinting track at these Olympics, and you may have heard new shoe technology and a springy track are responsible. It’s not quite so simple, as sport scientist Phil Bellinger explains: most of the credit should go to hard work and the lack of interruptions provided by COVID.
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Justin Bergman
Senior Deputy Editor: Politics + Society
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Matthew Klugman, Victoria University
In the aftermath of the Tokyo Olympics it’s worth reflecting on just what kind of meaning the games still generate.
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Joe Giddens/AAP
Courtney Walton, The University of Melbourne; Andrew Bennie, Western Sydney University
A solid post-Olympic plan and the support of others can make all the difference when it comes to transitioning to a ‘normal’ life.
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Kydpl Kyodo / AAP
Phil Bellinger, Griffith University
‘Super spikes’ and a springy track can’t take all the credit for lightning-fast sprint times at the Tokyo Olympics
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Mick Tsikas/AAP
Quentin Grafton, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Mary-Louise McLaws, UNSW; Tom Kompas, The University of Melbourne
NSW needs to mandate masks outdoors, provide adequate financial support, set up a ‘ring of steel’, use rapid tests for essential workers, and ensure cases not in full isolation get to zero, among others.
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Chinatopix via AP
David Karoly, CSIRO
234 scientists from 66 countries reviewed over 14,000 research papers. It was gruelling and it was worth it: the report is the most important global assessment of climate change science yet.
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Nils Versemann/Shutterstock
Charles Livingstone, Monash University
Crown Resorts’ contribution to Victoria is at the core of its attempts to keep its casino licence. But the costs of it keeping the casino may well be greater
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Politics + Society
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Michael Fletcher, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
It’s potentially the biggest change to welfare since ACC and would favour those on higher pay – so why does the public know so little about it?
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Ian Hall, Griffith University
Nehru was a fervent believer in what became known as ‘non-alignment’ — perhaps his greatest contribution to the 20th century world.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The 26-year-old man has been summonsed to appear before the ACT Magistrates Court on September 16 this year.
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Anne Twomey, University of Sydney
The legal decision that national cabinet is not a cabinet means how the body operates, and the decisions it makes, cannot be protected by cabinet confidentiality.
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Deirdre Howard-Wagner, Australian National University; Chay Brown, Australian National University
Prominent cases continue to draw attention to the wrongful imprisonment of First Nations women.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Michelle Grattan discusses the political week that was with Professor Paddy Nixon.
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Zoe Staines, The University of Queensland; Elise Klein, Australian National University; Francis Markham, Australian National University; Jon Altman, Australian National University
Mass unemployment is not a result of people choosing to remain on welfare. Attempts to close the “employment gap” ignore the real cause: unemployment is structural, not behavioural.
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Science + Technology
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Nick Kelly, Queensland University of Technology
Is a ‘metaverse’ blending real and virtual worlds the future of the internet?
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Business + Economy
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Richard Holden, UNSW
Ironically, it is the “ivory-tower” economists who tend to do the most interesting, and valuable, work.
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Education
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Margaret Kristin Merga, Edith Cowan University
New research shows how reading books can help young people escape from their sources of stress, find role models in characters and develop empathy.
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Arts + Culture
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Ruth McHugh-Dillon, Monash University
Shamefully under-read in English yet a giant of Spanish literature, Nada is unsentimental but deeply human.
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Environment + Energy
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Nerilie Abram, Australian National University; Andrew King, The University of Melbourne; Andy Pitman, UNSW; Christian Jakob, Monash University; Julie Arblaster, Monash University; Lisa Alexander, UNSW; Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, UNSW; Shayne McGregor, Monash University; Steven Sherwood, UNSW
An article in the eminent US magazine Science has triggered debate over whether scientists should use climate models. Here’s what you should know about climate models ahead of today’s IPCC report.
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Health + Medicine
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Justin Denholm, Melbourne Health
COVID has shown us we can develop a range of safe and effective vaccines. Now we need to do the same for TB.
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Peter Wark, University of Newcastle
It seems things have shifted slightly since earlier in the pandemic. A growing proportion of people hospitalised with the Delta strain are aged in their 30s or 40s.
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