Penny Oleksiak, the 16-year-old swimming sensation, is a shining star. Readers can't get enough news stories, features and photos of this phenomenal athlete.
But a few readers have not been that happy with The Globe's coverage.
Last Saturday's front-page photo was a portrait shot by freelancer Darren Calabrese. Set against a black background, Ms. Oleksiak looks strong and confident with a serious gaze at the camera. She is wearing her Canadian racing suit with black shorts.
Mr. Calabrese took many portrait shots of Canadian athletes for the Olympics team before the athletes left for Rio and the team offered these photos to social and other media.
One reader was thrilled with the Saturday front and the photo by Mr. Calabrese. She said that as a grandmother she thought the photo showed a strong young woman, a great role model for all those little girls who had their minds more on princesses than the real world.
But another reader wrote: "Rather than feature Penny Oleksiak as the champion that she is, on the podium or standing strong with her teammates, you chose to put a completely glamorized photo of her on your front page."
Another reader said the photo should have reflected the fact that she's a "remarkable kid."
Personally, I found it a compelling photo with an expression on her face that shows the intense drive and focus that makes her a winner and a great role model for young women and girls. While she is young, she is competing as an adult and is clearly as accomplished as any adult. It is a portrait shot, not a news photo, but I also did not find it "glamorized" in any way.
The second issue was about the lack of a photo of Ms. Oleksiak's gold-medal swim in some editions of Friday's paper.
While timing to the microsecond is important in sports and swimming, timing is also important in newspaper deadlines.
In this case, the swim was late and some early editions had been printed and were being shipped out. The early editions had a remarkable photo mid-backbend of winning American gymnast Simone Biles. Within minutes of Ms. Oleksiak's win, the front page was remade to put her victory photo on front for any "pickups" (which are changes made mid press run) and later editions.
Some readers wondered why Ms. Oleksiak was in Sports but not on the front page. In this case, there was a feature article on her with a photo from a previous race.
Those who received the early editions were disappointed. "A front page picture of a US gymnast performing while a picture of Penny Oleksiak, winner of a gold medal in the women's 100 metre freestyle and the first Canadian to win four medals in a single Summer Games, is buried in the second section of the paper? Oh Globe, what were you thinking?"
Several others wondered where was The Globe's national pride?
I understand that in the days of instant news and digital platforms, there is something very special about the main photo on the front page, especially when Canadians are feeling so proud about the nation's athletic victories. And despite deadline issues, there have been many front-page photos of Canadian athletes. Rosie MacLennan with the flag and a news photo of Canadian athletes entering the stadium, the female swimmers, the women's rugby sevens players, female synchronized divers, Penny Oleksiak on two days and Andre De Grasse with Usain Bolt.
In fact, over the period of the Games the only front-page photos not of Canadian athletes were of noisy Brazilian fans and Tuesday's Donald Trump photo.