Jack Anderson: Melbourne’s struggles make Tokyo Olympic dream look more distant
A man wearing a protective face mask walks near the Olympic rings floating in the water in the Odaiba section in Tokyo.
Last year, the Australian Open was threatened by bushfires. In mid-January 2020, Melbourne had, for a while, the worst air quality in the world as smoke spread from the ravaged east of the country. Players coughed and spluttered their way through games and, being January in Australia, it was, of course, hot. On the day of the men’s semi-finals in 2020, the temperature peaked at 42.9 Celsius in the state of Victoria.
The tennis was one of the last major sporting events to be held in Melbourne in 2020. By mid-March, the city was in lockdown. Like so many others who used to commute daily to the city centre, I have not been back in the office since.
