The story of how La Defense Arena was transformed is as whacky and ridiculously crazy as the Opening Ceremony was. For some reason, the Paris 2024 OC has turned into a metaphor for unimaginable artistry that borders around insanity. After all, art is all about that. The Arena, on Saturday, hosted the most anticipated rivalry of the Games. The women's 400m freestyle final. The cast: Katie Ledecky, Ariarne Titmus and the new challenger to their legacy, Summer McIntosh of Canada.
But the story is as much about the La Defence Arena as it is about the race. In May, the Arena hosted a Taylor Swift event, and now, it was hosting one of the Games’s most anticipated events, a defining moment in the history of the Olympics. But before being venue to that, the Arena had to undergo a metamorphosis in the Kafkaesque sense with the giant 40,000 capacity stadium suddenly morphing into a swimming arena. Two 50m pools were dug - one for competition and the other for warming up. Millions of litres of water were poured into the raised pit. The pools are 2.3m deep and have 10 lanes and are made of stainless steel components. And where the 22m half line of the rugby pitch was supposed to be is where the press tribune is.
But once the race started, the history of the pool no longer mattered. It was about the sport and the athletes.
Titmus battled to save her ovary when a giant benign tumour was discovered last year during an MRI. She was torn between motherhood and swimming, her passion. She revealed about the tumour in an instagram post and said: “A large growth was found on my right ovary. For anyone that knows me, they’d know I’d give up anything in the world to be a mother, it’s my biggest dream so this was a scary time for me."
She battled today but not against Ledecky. Her main competition was McIntosh, still only 17, for gold. Ledecky, the original superstar, finished third.
In Tokyo 2020, Titmus beat the elder statesman, who was the champion in the Rio Games, whose Games record still stands. The world record, however, is with Titmus. Even before they dived into the water, the world waited with bated breath.
The hall reverberated with cheers that felt like a thousand decibels. It was deafening. Then the three stepped inside the arena and stood there on the platform. The silence before the whistle was haunting. But as soon as they dived, there was no restraint in the yells for their favourite heroes.
It was, perhaps, pre ordained that the swimmers finish 1-2-3 but the order was anybody's guess. In the end, the defending champion prevailed, with McIntosh taking silver and Ledecky finishing third.
Titmus was at her best while in the mixed zone answering questions. The enormity of the Olympics is what she revels and her words evoked that sentiment like all other Olympic medallists. Winning a medal for country is always special and her words just reflect her emotions.
“I love swimming and I love winning medals for my country and look for having fun,” she said. “I am living a dream and I am the same old girl.”
Titmus felt that anyone can do what one believes can achieve. “Anyone can do what they can if they believe they can do it if they work hard. So here I am from a small (Tasmanian) town and living a dream.”
Titmus also said that she shared a very healthy relationship with Ledecky outside the swimming pool. “I swim against the best in the world and that gets the best out of me and the best out of them.”
With one gold in her pocket, she would hope to win many more. The new generation has taken the baton and will continue for some time. That’s what sports is all about – emotion and real.