World Athletics Championships: Cairns set to get nod as Sydney, Melbourne slow out of the blocks

In another huge boost for Australian sport, one of the few mega events yet to grace our shores looks to be in the bag, although it won’t be going anywhere near Sydney or Melbourne.

Tropical Cairns is threatening to pinch one of the world’s premier sporting events right from under the noses of Australia’s state capitals who have been caught napping by the speed of Brisbane’s bid to host the 2032 Olympics.

The Far North Queensland city has emerged as the early favourite to host the world athletics championships - one of the few mega sporting events that has never been held in Australia before - because the state governments underestimated how advanced Brisbane’s Olympic plans were.

The announcement that Brisbane is the official preferred partner for 2032 - which is Olympic speak for having the Games in the bag - is set to trigger a bidding war between the states for the biggest and best lead-up events.

Kelsey-Lee Barber was one of the star’s of the last world championships in 2019.

And the undoubted jewel in the crown is the world athletics championships - which has never been staged anywhere in the southern hemisphere, let alone Australia.

Athletics Australia announced last year that it was considering a bid to host the event but News Corp can reveal that when a formal submission is made, it will be guaranteed to succeed.

The reason is because the sport’s international governing body has recently changed its rules on staging major events to ensure that all regions in the world get a turn at hosting the world championships. Under the new rotation system, Oceania and Africa will get 2025 and 2027.

International sources have said Australia is the unanimous choice for Oceania, regardless of whether it’s 2025 or 2027, setting the stage for a civil bidding war to land the big prize.

Cairns decathlete Liam Gilbert could get the chance to perform in front of his home crowd.

Sydney and Melbourne - who both love to claim to be Australia’s sporting capital - have been slow off the mark, according to sources, with Cairns and Perth both stealing a march on their richer big-city rivals.

The sticking point for Victoria and NSW is that the world athletics championships have to be held mid-year, in July or August, to fit in with the northern hemisphere summer.

That’s winter time in Australia, of course, when the NRL and AFL are in full swing and the biggest stadiums in Sydney and Melbourne are usually booked.

That’s also how Cairns, which has an international standard athletics track at Barlow Park, has managed to get out in front, with Perth also accelerating out of the blocks quicker than Sydney and Brisbane.