Olympics

Anne Hidalgo’s socialist reign of error in Paris

30 August 2021 3:31 am

A photograph, taken in June 2014, has become emblematic of Anne Hidalgo’s Socialist rule of Paris. In the picture stands…

Was the Tokyo Olympics a success?

9 August 2021 8:12 am

Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s Prime Minister, is a hard man to read. He has a sum total of one facial expression…

Switch over to Eurosport: BBC's Olympic coverage reviewed

7 August 2021 9:00 am

I’ve not been allowed anywhere near the TV remote control this week because of some kind of infernal sporting event…

Letters: The problem with the ‘alpha migrants’

7 August 2021 9:00 am

Here illegally Sir: Unfortunately, Charlotte Eagar misses the point (‘The alpha migrants’, 31 July). The Channel migrants may be ‘bright…

Simone Biles, Plutarch and an Olympic trial

7 August 2021 9:00 am

The outstanding gymnast Simone Biles has pulled out of several Olympic events, saying: ‘I just don’t trust myself as much…

Should Simone Biles listen to Novak Djokovic?

7 August 2021 9:00 am

I’ve always been a Spectator reader, so I’m delighted to be writing a diary about the Olympics from Tokyo. My…

Guy Verhofstadt claims Olympic gold for the EU

6 August 2021 7:00 am

Who is on top of the gold medal table at the Tokyo Olympics? China? The United States? According to former European…

Is it fair for Laurel Hubbard to compete against women?

2 August 2021 4:33 pm

Today, the conversation about transgender rights and the interests of women turns to sport. At the Olympic Games, Laurel Hubbard…

In defence of Novak Djokovic

1 August 2021 7:23 pm

Why does no one like Novak Djokovic? If Roger Federer is the player that even non-tennis fans can’t help but…

Is rain getting heavier?

31 July 2021 9:00 am

Reinventing the wheels Skateboarding made its debut at the Olympics. Who invented the skateboard? — There are many reports of…

Why do the Japanese still seem so ambivalent about Naomi Osaka?

29 July 2021 7:15 am

It had all started so well for Naomi Osaka. Dressed in the colours of the Japanese flag, the tennis star…

What’s changed since the last Tokyo Olympics?

24 July 2021 9:00 am

Waiting Games What did Japan, and the world, look like the last time Tokyo held the Olympics in 1964? —…

The ancient Greeks had no time for losers

24 July 2021 9:00 am

Every red-blooded Englishman has believed that exercise in the open air is the finest prophylactic against popery, adultery and the…

The uncomfortable truth about the Nazis and the Olympics

24 July 2021 9:00 am

The uncomfortable truth about the Nazis and the Olympics

Tokyo's doomed Olympics could be the worst yet

19 July 2021 10:56 pm

The Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics, which begins on Friday, looks set to be one of the worst in the event’s history. A…

Laurel Hubbard is the beginning of the end of women’s sports

22 June 2021 8:33 pm

When women’s professional soccer was deemed good enough for our TV screens a couple of years ago, I was watching…

For the sake of athletics, the Olympics must not be delayed again

29 May 2021 9:00 am

Whatever became of athletics? It’s fallen nearly as far as show jumping and that is a long way. But the…

Olympics' organisers could regret banning 'taking the knee'

24 April 2021 4:30 pm

Knee-taking and fist-raising protests have been banned at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee warning athletes who flout the rules…

How the West can avoid Beijing's propaganda trap

6 March 2021 12:27 am

This time next year the Winter Olympics will have drawn to a close. Beijing will have become the first city…

Japan Olympic chief resigns over sexism. But did he have to go?

13 February 2021 2:02 am

Yoshiro Mori the 83-year-old former Japanese prime minister has resigned from his position as president of the Tokyo Olympic Organising…

Is it all over for the Tokyo Olympics?

22 January 2021 6:58 pm

Any long-term resident of Japan will know that ‘reading the air’, as the locals put it, is an essential skill…

Face time

16 September 2017 9:00 am

The inimitably pukka voice of Jacob Rees-Mogg echoed through Radio 4 on Thursday morning. He was not, though, talking about…

Emil Zátopek at the height of his powers

Emil Zátopek: a legend from athletics’ golden age of innocence

7 May 2016 9:00 am

The story of the Czechoslovak runner Emil Zátopek is a tale from athletics’ age of innocence. Without the aid of…

Downton Abbey on skis: Eddie the Eagle reviewed

2 April 2016 9:00 am

I once forced some pals on a skiing holiday to spend an afternoon off the slopes watching Chalet Girl. Suffice…

Would I have broken my neck for a bit of TV fame?

13 February 2016 9:00 am

Not long ago I was asked if I wanted to participate in a Channel 4 reality show called The Jump.…