Brisbane welcome-home parade for Tokyo 2020 Olympians

Queensland’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes will receive the Keys to the City in a massive welcome-home parade in Brisbane. FULL DETAILS

Queensland’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be celebrated at a massive welcome home parade to be held in Brisbane’s CBD, where they will be awarded the Keys to the City.

Parents and grandparents are being encouraged to bring their children along to the October 8 parade, with the athletes set to walk through the Queen Street Mall to a stage at King George Square.

It follows one of Australia’s most successful Olympic campaigns where Aussie athletes clinched 17 gold medals – an equal best to the 2004 Athens Games – with many hailing from the Sunshine State.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she wanted to congratulate as many athletes as possible, saying they deserved a warm welcome home.

“Covid delayed the Tokyo Games but in many ways they came along at exactly the right time,” she said.

“How wonderful it was to have something to cheer about.

“Our Olympians gave us that, and I hope our streets can be filled to show them how much we appreciated it.”

Ms Palaszczuk will be joined by Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who said the parade was a chance for local kids to see the athletes up close and to “begin dreaming of emulating their incredible feats on home soil” when Brisbane hosts the 2032 Games.

He said he and the Premier planned to meet regularly in the wake of their successful mission to Tokyo.

“Whether it’s discussing the Olympics or other topics, the Premier and I will keep the spirit of co-operation going because it will help Brisbane, and all of Queensland, get even better,” Cr Schrinner said.

Ms Palaszczuk said many of the athletes from the Tokyo Games were young enough to still be competing by 2032.

“Imagine what they could achieve in front of a home crowd,” the Premier said, as she lauded Queensland’s success at the Tokyo Games.

“If Queensland was a nation, we would have ranked seventh on the medal tally – ahead of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy.

“This parade will be a great opportunity for young Queenslanders to meet their idols like Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown and Logan Martin.”

After they finish their walk through to King George Square, the athletes will be given the Keys to the City.

The parade will go ahead subject to any localised outbreaks of Covid-19, with preparations for the event already underway.

Returning Olympians have had to delay their celebrations at home – sent into hotel quarantine for two weeks upon their arrival into Australia.

The Paralympic Games will kick off in Tokyo on August 24 and wrap up on September 5.