Australia’s hopes of quickly wrapping up the contest to host the 2032 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games got a boost with a report that the International Olympic Committee would this week get a key recommendation to make the Brisbane-based bid the preferred candidate.

News that the IOC body overseeing host bids would recommend that south-east Queensland progress to the so-called “targeted dialogue” stage of exclusive negotiations strengthened local hopes of the regional bid being formally named as the 2032 host by the time of the delayed Tokyo games in July.