Aussie Ariarne wins Titmus test

THE story of how La Defense Arena was transformed is as whacky and ridiculously crazy as the Opening Ceremony was.

- INDRANEEL DAS

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.