James Magnussen explains why Brisbane 2032 should be at the MCG in the final Matty and The Missile podcast
The Olympics is not quite over, but sadly the Matty and The Missile podcast is. For their final episode, the boys take listeners all over Paris, revisit their best moments of the Olympic Games so far and a bold suggestion from James Magnussen.
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The Paris Olympic Games has presented many great moments and captured the imagination of a nation, something which Matthew Johns and James Magnussen have experienced first hand in the French capital.
In their final episode of the Matty and The Missile podcast before heading home to Australia, the boys revisit their best moments of so far, make some predictions for the athletes who’ve debuted this year and James Magnussen has a suggestion for eight years time when it is Australia’s turn to host.
“If I was Brisbane, and I am looking at hosting these home games, I’d be looking at pushing events to other cities and hosting events in those cities,” Magnussen said.
“Why couldn’t we have the Olympics at the MCG (and have the athletes) down in Melbourne … The concept of an Olympic village is no longer feasible for these countries. If you look at the cost of building the accommodation, the food hall … it’s too much.”
During their time in Paris, Matty and The Missile have been blown away by the passion of the French fans.
“What I’ve been really surprised by and impressed by was how passionate the French fans are and how patriotic they are,” Magnussen said.
“Every event you go to and there’s a French athlete involved, singing the anthem, singing in the crowd.”
“They celebrate our athletes like we did in the 1980s,” Johns said.
And the one athlete who gabbed the heart strings of the French public is swimmer Leon Marchand with four individual gold medals.
Johns has been particularly taken by the Frenchman’s feats and the question is asked: Is the 22-year-old Marchand a chance to break the great Michael Phelps a chance of breaking his record of 23 Olympic gold medals?
That question and more is answered in the final podcast.
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