August
At the Paris Olympics, the best views are the venues
By utilising existing buildings, the Paris Olympics is showing off its beautiful heritage and saving billions on construction costs.
- Jerry Brewer
June
Canoe star Jessica Fox poles apart in gold medal spree ahead of Games
The Australian paddler won three gold medals at the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Poland, taking her World Cup gold medal tally past 50.
September 2022
- Opinion
- Sporting rules
Why lessons from America’s Cup win still matter
Australia II became the pride of the nation when skipper John Bertrand and his crew won the America’s Cup in 1983. Bertrand is still passing on the lessons that come from losing – and coming back to win.
- Jennifer Hewett
August 2022
Greenies thwart Peter Thiel’s New Zealand luxury lodge plans
The PayPal founder dropped plans for a ‘meditation pod’ on the Wanaka property to unsuccessfully try to ease environmentalists’ concerns.
- Ainsley Thomson
Seven West Media chief says ad concerns are ‘overblown’
The Kerry Stokes-owned media company says it will buy back up to 10 per cent of shares on issue as its full-year net profit dropped by a third to $211 million.
- Updated
- Mark Di Stefano
July 2022
Seven sues over software it needs for Commonwealth Games
The network is in dispute with a production company named Gravity related to an agreement signed in 2019.
- Miklos Bolza
Shinzo Abe, powerful former Japan PM, leaves divided legacy
The former leader, who was assassinated Friday, angered both liberals at home and World War II victims in Asia with his revisionist view of Japan’s history.
- Foster Klug and Mari Yamaguchi
February 2022
AusCycling apologises for snapped handlebar at Tokyo Games
Australia’s cycling federation has apologised to its Olympic team for an incident that left rider Alex Porter with facial injuries and cost a potential gold medal.
- Ian Ransom
Shortened torch relay marks final countdown to Winter Games
Luo Zhihuan, the country’s first internationally competitive speed skater, ran the first leg.
January 2022
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
The unspoken rules helping Japan live with COVID
The country’s long history of social distancing and meticulous cleanliness is serving it well in a global pandemic, although cases are starting to rise.
- Michael Smith
- Opinion
- World politics
No signs of policy reform or creativity under Kishida
When inspiration is needed, Japan’s PM seems more likely to avoid rocking the boat and to co-operate with the LDP’s conservative nationalist faction bosses.
- Ben Ascione
December 2021
The Financial Review’s 10 best long reads of 2021
We’ve compiled the features, interviews and investigations you might have missed throughout the year.
Low-case Japan taking no risks with omicron
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has signalled the country’s borders will remain closed to most foreigners for at least a month.
- Updated
- Michael Smith
October 2021
Japanese PM dissolves lower house to make way for election
Fumio Kishida says he is seeking a mandate for his policies after being elected Prime Minister by parliament only 10 days ago.
- Mari Yamaguchi
September 2021
FBI turned ‘blind eye’ to reports of gymnasts’ abuse
Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles told US Congress the FBI had failed to act on the reported abuses of disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar.
- Mary Clare Jalonick, Will Graves and Michael Balsamo
- Opinion
- World politics
Japan’s leadership race opens up after PM Suga’s exit
Who replaces Yoshihide Suga is hostage to two countervailing forces – saving incumbent parliamentarians and introducing generational change.
- Rikki Kersten
What CEOs can learn from Olympic swimmers
At such a level, most athletes have reached the peak of their fitness and physical skill. It is their mental state that determines success.
- Updated
- Tess Bennett
August 2021
What locked-down Australia can learn from the Paralympics
The country’s biggest overseas Paralympic team is chasing medals in Tokyo as it competes in the most sports since Sydney 2000.
- Michael Bleby
- Opinion
- China relations
What the US and China can learn from their Olympic medals
The US showed why it is still the world’s only superpower. But it should not dismiss China’s social and political success as luck or cheating.
- David Daokui Li
Australian Olympians facing double quarantine in South Australia
Authorities took almost 1000 people to Tokyo and back without one COVID-19 infection, but can’t get 16 people back into SA without a further 14 days’ isolation.
- Michael Bleby and Simon Evans