Legendary athletics coach Bailey Pashley calls for QSAC to be scrapped as Olympic Games venue

A legendary athletics coach who ended his illustrious career after a “scary” fall at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre has penned a scathing letter to politicians calling for it to be scrapped as an Olympic venue.

A legendary Queensland athletics coach has fired off a scathing letter to politicians calling for QSAC to be scrapped as a venue for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, detailing accessibility and safety concerns, including a fall he had there himself.

Bailey Pashley who helped develop hundreds of athletes, including a number who went on to state and national honours, sent a letter to the Opposition Leader David Crisafulli and Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner about the Nathan-based stadium after The Sunday Mail exposed just how difficult it is for disabled sports fans manoeuvring through the ‘tired’ Gabba stadium.

Mr Crisafulli, who in his budget reply speech on Thursday promised to sort out the Games “mess” within 100 days if elected in October, said it was essential Olympic infrastructure was reviewed again.

“The Premier has boxed himself in by saying QSAC is the only option,” he said.

Athletics coach Bailey Pashley suffered a fall at Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre. Picture: Dominic Elsome

In 2021, Mr Pashley, now 84, fell down the stairs in one of the QSAC grandstands.

There are no handrails on the grandstands.

“It was a championship weekend and I knew it would be my last,” Mr Pashley said.

“I just thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’.”

Mr Pashley said he had been worried about going up and down the stairs for about a year leading up to the incident and described the fall as “scary”.

“My legs just gave way and I had nothing to grab,” he said.

Premier Steven Miles and his frontbench in March endorsed spending $1.6b to upgrade QSAC, despite a $450,000 taxpayer-funded review led by former Lord Mayor Graham Quirk that found the stadium would provide “no significant legacy benefit”.

Mr Pashley said the massive cost to upgrade the venue really “struck” him.

“It doesn’t seem like enough, they’d have to build so many ramps, get rid of steps,” he said.

“It would need to be entirely reconstructed.”

Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre at Nathan.

Mr Pashley said disabled people were not accommodated for at the “outdated” QSAC.

“You have a big ramp down the side which was mainly built to drop off goods but that’s an awful long walk,” he said.

“Then you’re fronted with steps and before you can see out the arena, you’re stuck with those narrow walkways.”

Mr Pashley said disabled people simply wouldn’t be able to watch the Olympic and Paralympic Games at QSAC in its current state.

“Public transport is terrible and there’s not enough parking for able bodied people let alone disabled people,” he said.

Disability Advocate Dr Sharon Boyce who was diagnosed with juvenile chronic arthritis at 11 and has been in a wheelchair since she was a young adult said Queensland needed to challenge the current standards to create new ones.

“It’s not just about whose in a wheelchair like me, its thinking about a staircase with an elderly man and thinking do we even need this many stairs, could we put a ramp in,” she said.

“It’s about thinking outside the box and not being too scared to say anything.”

Mr Pashley said QSAC is “outdated”. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Minister for State Development and Infrastructure Grace Grace said the government was incorporating universal design principles to ensure inclusion and accessibility would be key considerations at all venues, including QSAC.

“We have established a new accessibility and inclusion program to drive Games and Legacy outcomes for people with a disability, that will work across all Games program areas and include co-designing projects,” she said.

“Venue designs will be informed by people with lived experience of disability, sector representatives and people with technical expertise in accessible infrastructure design.”

Ms Grace said the Miles Government was committed to making the most of the opportunity the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games provide to create a truly transformational legacy for those with a disability, and that work has already started.

“The QSAC upgrade fits the IOC new norm of upgrading existing venues and can be delivered within our existing funding envelope: unlike the LNP, we have made it clear we will not be spending $3.4 billion plus on a brand-new stadium at Victoria Park,” she said.