While it’s been a dark year for those of us affected by COVID lockdowns, there has been a shining light – the opportunity to cheer and be cheered by our golden girls of sport.
Ash Barty won the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament, Wimbledon; our cricket team beat India in a multi-series; Minjee Lee won her first golf major, and of course our Olympians and Paralympians gave us cause to celebrate day after day.
Not since the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 has Australia taken away more gold medals in the pool. “Three seconds ahead of the world! You just don’t see that!” marvelled Ian Thorpe as the 4x100m relay team smashed the 3 minute 30 second barrier for the first time ever.
Meanwhile, Ariarne Titmus didn’t just win the 200m and 400m freestyle at her first-ever Olympics – she did it by beating the world’s greatest ever female swimmer, Katie Ledecky.
And with the International Olympic Committee committed to gender equality, Jess Fox got to compete in the inaugural women’s C1 canoe slalom and won gold. We marveled as she kneeled in her tiny boat to spin it through the turbulent water and around 25 gates. There was more success in the water when our women won the rowing fours and Melissa Wu got bronze in the 10m diving, while, on dry land, we won medals in the women’s beach volleyball, high jump, and javelin.
This story is from the Christmas 2021 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Christmas 2021 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
