‘So ocker, so good’: Brisbane 2032 marks eight years to go with chant push

Marking eight years to go before the Olympic cauldron is lit in Brisbane in 2032, organisers have urged fans to look back to 2000, when the Sydney Games made the “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – Oi! Oi! Oi!” chant known worldwide.

The chant, ubiquitous at any sporting event in which Australia participates, is front and centre of Brisbane 2032’s social media push for fans to make their own videos of the chant with a #Brisbane2032 hashtag.

Helping launch the campaign with Wynnum State School pupils at South Bank on Tuesday, three-time Olympic gold medallist Emily Seebohm said the chant helped drive her to success in the pool.

Wynnum SS pupils with Olympians and Paralympians Eithen Leard (wheelchair basketball), Emily Seebohm (swimming), Patrick Johnson (athletics) and Raissa Martin (goalball).Credit: Lyndon Mechielsen/ Brisbane 2032

“Make sure you’re out on your socials, you’re giving that chant – that ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi!’,” she said.

“I loved hearing it in the stands and, Eithen, you’re going to have a great time listening to that in Paris.”

Seebohm was referring to Paralympian Eithen Leard, who will represent Australia in wheelchair basketball in Paris.

“The ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi!’ starting in Sydney is a really cool story because I can’t wait to see what Brisbane is going to bring,” he said.

Brisbane 2032 board director Brett Clark, filling in for chairman Andrew Liveris, who is in Paris for the start of the 2024 Games, said while eight years seemed like a long time to go, the reality was it would not be long before things ramped up.

“Considering that LA is the next Games, at that Games, at the closing ceremony they’ll basically be handing the keys to Brisbane,” he said.

“So that’s not that far away.”

Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee board director Brett Clark.Credit: Cameron Atfield

Clark said the chant, which was “so Australian, so ocker and so good”, was a way for fans at home to send their support to Australia’s athletes in France.

“We’ve got to send our support from Australia all the way to Paris and in a way that is unique to this nation and iconic across the world,” he said.

“With the time-honoured catchcry ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi!’ we’re going to have a simple but powerful way to support our athletes.”

While the chant is unique to Australia, it is a derivative of the “Oggy Oggy Oggy” chant long heard in sporting crowds across Great Britain.

Tuesday’s marking of the eight-year milestone coincided with the release, through Right to Information legislation, of the first image of the proposed $1.6 billion Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre rebuild.