Robert Craddock and Hayden Johnson give their verdict on Brisbane’s lessons for 2032

While the Olympics might next be off to LA, the pressure is building on Brisbane to put on a show. Hayden Johnson and Robert Craddock declare how Brisbane can make some noise.

It’s like comparing Godzilla to Wee Willie Winkie. When Brisbane Olympic officials walked into the grandiose Stade de France stadium this week they surely must have felt like sheepishly looking down at their shoes.

The Stade de France, host of soccer and rugby union World Cups, has an 80,000 capacity but when it is filled to the rafters as it has been this week, feels not so much like a stadium but a small city floating in its own galaxy.

By contrast, Brisbane is planning a venue half the size in redeveloped 40,000 seat QSAC Stadium at Mt Gravatt, up Kessels Road past the Baby Bunting store. It would be the smallest Olympic athletics venue since Amsterdam in 1928. Danger signs are flashing. Having a budget Games is one thing but the main athletics venue is supposed to be the host city’s shining stud. A capacity of at least 60,000 is essential. If it cannot happen at QSAC it should be built at Victoria Park. Unsuitably small Olympics venues are a worry because of …

An artists impression of the proposed Brisbane Arena. The new major event venue will be one of two Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics aquatic venues.

THE BIG SQUEEZE

If venues are small it can create a frenzied demand for tickets which can soil the entire vibe of the Games. As big as the Stade de France is there are times when even it could have sold 40,000 extra seats for prime athletics nights.

If you are going to host the Aldi Olympics there will be plenty of parents and family members who won’t be able to afford to be there when their kids compete for gold.

Gold medal winning pole Nina Kennedy told how the friends and family helped to launch her skywards. “To come here and look in the crowd and see 20, 30 or 40 of my friends and family, just people that I’ve known over life is just so special,” she said.

“It gave me peace, it gave me calm and it just gave me this energy, this belief that I could do that tonight.”

THE MASCOT

Not many things didn’t quite work for Paris but the contrived and genuinely odd mascot Phryge was one of them. It was supposed to be a hat from the French Revolution but it looked more like a transplanted heart with legs. It had no soul. Which is where Bluey comes in. Brisbane does not own many global brands but Bluey is one of them. Why not get Bluey to introduce a new relation as the Olympic mascot on her globally successful show a year out from the Games?

Will Bluey play a role in Brisbane? Photo: Peter Wallis.

GHOST TOWN BLUES

Strange but true. Paris was a ghost town. The longest faces seen at the Games were restaurant owners who banked on traffic jams and got tumbleweeds. July is summer holiday time here but while the venues rocked there was a feeling locals were almost encouraged to leave town to avoid the crush. At times it felt weird. Brisbane should encourage its residents to stay and enjoy the vibe.

CRY ME A RIVER

The decision to use the serene but stinky River Seine to host the opening ceremony was daring and different and special. But that card has been played now. The Brisbane River — The Brown Snake — is in any case too wide to host it and nor should Brisbane be thinking of hosting swimming events in it. It’s not worth the hassle.

The Seine made headlines for the wrong reasons. (Photo by MARTIN BUREAU / POOL / AFP)

JUST BE YOU

Brisbane has no Eiffel Tower. It has no Arc de Triomphe. It can’t be something it is not. But the region does have great beaches and an outdoor vibe.

That’s what the world is coming to see. It might seem kitsch and stereotypical to us, but many overseas visitors to Queensland want to do the simple stuff like visiting Australia Zoo and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. “Australia,” you’ll tell the Parisian waiter – knowing what’s coming. “Ah, kangaroo,” they’ll return. Queensland should celebrate what it has rather than be what it is not.

VILLAGE VOICE

Listen to the athletes. Give them what they want, not what you think they need. It was a first week embarrassment for organisers to have to send out for emergency rations of beef and eggs because they had prioritised vegan interests at the village buffet. Paris village chiefs were warned protein-craving athletes would blow up at the lack of options and they duly did.

NEW SPORTS

The host city has a say in the introduction of new sports and Paris chose well when it pushed for the batpoo crazy but watchable kayak cross won by Noemie Fox. Brisbane, like Paris, should go for young eyeballs and if that means pushing for breaking, which appears in Paris and disappears in Los Angeles, that’s fine. Brisbane should keep the heat on fading sports like boxing, shooting and modern pentathlon.

Noemie Fox shocked the world. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

POOL MANIA

Strong and bronzed, Australia’s Dolphins are the soul of our Olympic team, so Brisbane must give them a deep and fast pool to flourish.

The drop-in pool at Brisbane Arena must be surrounded by 17,000 seats for screaming Australians to call our swimmers home. While Suncorp Stadium has been floated, its lack of a roof rules it out as a swimming venue.

Gold medals in the pool also set the scene for Australia’s entire Games campaign, as chef de mission Anna Meares said: “Momentum goes a long way, we’ve seen that in the Australian Olympic team”.

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW

In a few days the most photogenic Olympic Games venue in history will vanish without a trace. Beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower has been spectacular and proved how great temporary venues can be. Fencing under the dome roof of Paris’s Grand Palais has been the other standout venue. Fitting with the International Olympic Committee’s new norms, Brisbane mustn’t be afraid of temporary venues but instead consider how to make them unique.

The Eiffel Tower created an iconic venue for sport. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

THE BIG VOICE

Who’s selling the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games to Queensland? Premier Steven Miles and his government ministers are – but who wants to hear from them? Brisbane 2032 desperately needs a public ambassador to promote how an Olympics can unify and deliver positive change for a region. The organising committee is rightly focused on establishing itself as a corporation, so it needs a strong face backed by a small team to start building rapport with Brisbane. Why not start the volunteer program eight years early? Before 2032 these community heroes could volunteer with existing charities. They could appear at the Ekka this week with free sporting gear and run colouring-in competitions for the kids.

LIVE PARK:

It’s the vibe: Never have truer words been spoken about an Olympic Games. Paris has created a carnival atmosphere in Champion’s Park where victorious athletes are paraded and dance troupes perform. Brisbane can go better. For a start, we have grass and trees which offer a more pleasant environment than standing in a concrete canyon on a burning 32c day. The City Botanic Gardens should be our Champion’s Park where athletes are celebrated for their achievements. Food and drink vans, live screens and come-and-try sporting games would raise the vibe of a Brisbane Games. Bring it on!

Originally published as Robert Craddock and Hayden Johnson give their verdict on Brisbane’s lessons for 2032