Greg Norman urges Australia to ‘set goals high’ for 2032 Olympic Games

Greg Norman, the newest member of the powerful board organising the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, has some strong advice for his home state.

Brisbane must prioritise stadiums for the 2032 Olympics which are easy to navigate for fans and have long-term value for the city, according to Greg Norman, the newest member of the powerful board organising the Games.

While the legendary golfer refused to be drawn on what new infrastructure would be required, he revealed he had been poring over Google Maps to familiarise himself with the options in his home state since he was tapped for the key position.

Norman, who turns 70 next month, said he was thrilled to be asked to help plan the Olympics, enabling him to spend more time at home after living in the US for decades.

In an interview, moments after he spoke with organising committee president Andrew Liveris, Norman said he would draw on his extensive experience including running LIV Golf to help Brisbane get ready for the Games.

“I’ll draw on those to see what really worked well and what didn’t work well and then I’ll give them my input – that’s obviously one of the reasons why they wanted me to come on board,” he said.

Australian former professional golfer Greg Norman at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC. Picture: Lawren Simmons

Asked about the debate over whether a new stadium should be built in Victoria Park or the Gabba upgraded, Norman said he was “just getting my toes in the water”.

But he said he would be focused on “the ease of people to get around” during the Games.

“It’s no different than going to a golf tournament – the logistics of how it all works and making sure people walk away the first day, and say, ‘I want to come back day two and day three’,” Norman said.

The former world number one also highlighted the need for stadiums that had multiple uses.

“I can just speak specifically with golf. 
You’re in there for one week. And then what happens to the rest of the year? How do we monetise that? All those things we’ll talk about,” Norman said.

“Golf is totally different than the Olympics because of the multitude of sports and facilities you need. 
But when you distill it down into the simplistic form, that’s the way I would be looking at it.”

“I actually Google Mapped Brisbane the other day … I said, okay, I know this place here and I know here. And I said, okay, what happens if we did this, this and this? And so I’ve already started in my mind the process, but it’s very early days.”

Speaking in Washington DC, where he received a lifetime achievement award from Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd, Norman said his recent departure from LIV meant he could now turn his attention to the Olympics and travel more to Australia.

“I said to Andrew Liveris tonight, I want Brisbane to be the North Star of the Olympics … You’ve got to set your goals high, you’ve got to just be shooting for something that’s never been shot for before.” he said.

Originally published as Greg Norman urges Australia to ‘set goals high’ for 2032 Olympic Games