Brisbane wins Olympics bid: QLD to host 2032 Games

Crack the champagne and celebrate. Brisbane has been awarded the 2032 Olympic Games with a massive majority vote. See how the ballot went and what happens next.

Brisbane has won the 2032 Olympic Games.

International Olympic Committee members have been wowed by Australia’s three tiered government financial guarantees - and the sunny skies - to feel confident to award the greatest sporting show on earth to the Queensland capital in 11 years time.

IOC president Thomas Bach’s announcement on Wednesday night at the Okura hotel, where more than 80 members are meeting, will transform Brisbane from an emerging global city into an Olympic powerhouse.

It was a landslide victory.

Of 80 voting cards distributed, three members abstained, 72 voted yes and five voted no.

The endorsement is far higher than predicted in the secret ballot.

Result of the host election for the XXXV Olympiad#IOCSession | #Brisbane2032 pic.twitter.com/Ns8xJg7F5f

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) July 21, 2021

In a watershed moment, Brisbane’s six years of meticulous planning culminated in a secret ballot lasting no longer than half an hour.

IOC members were asked if they “agree to elect Brisbane as the host of the Games of the XXXV Olympiad 2032”.

The vote came after a slick and colourful 20 minute final presentation to the members, led by prime minister Scott Morrison in a video link from Canberra and the Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who had flown to Tokyo especially to eyeball the IOC members.

Brisbane will become just the third Australian capital after Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000 – and the 24th global city - to host an Olympic Games.

The attention of the world will return to Brisbane in 2032 almost half-a-century to the day since the state-changing 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Sydney’s hugely successful games were still fresh in the minds of IOC members, who took comfort from Australia’s reputation for hosting global events.

The victory was 35 years in the making for Australian Olympic Committee president and IOC vice president John Coates, who spearheaded Brisbane’s failed bid for the 1992 Games back in 1986.

Mr Coates told the members the Brisbane 2032 Olympics would be the “together games”, honouring the new Olympic motto of higher, stronger, faster - together.

Fans celebrate after the announcement

He said: “Asking for this honour I assure you Brisbane and Australia understand the Olympic Games are not won, they are served, and the service to Olympic ideals is raising to yourself to be the best you can be… that is as comfortable understanding of people of Brisbane because it’s an authentic one’’.

Mr Coates stressed a Brisbane Games “ will be an expression - unforgettable, enduring and revered olympism - celebrated and served together”.

Before a stirring pitch, Mr Morrison was introduced with Mitch Tambo’s version of John Farnham’s You’re the Voice and drew upon Australia’s history with the Olympic Movement, stressing the country’s multicultural links.

Mr Morrison said the Olympic ethos and values of Australia already resonate, noting how “we are outward looking people” and with “over 300 different ethnic backgrounds similar to a giant size olympic village all together’’.

Fireworks go off at Southbank in Brisbane

He drew upon two memories of the Sydney Olympic Games: Cathy Freeman’s 400m victory and Jane Savile’s disqualification in the walk.

“There she was, Cathy Freeman heading down straight with wind at her back.. every town around. Australia you could hear the roar of 60,000 years of history.,’’ he said.

“That night, Cathy, she carried us all, she brought us together, the heart, the soul, the reconciliation advanced a generation in a single night, that’s what Olympics can do.”

He then recalled how Saville had been disqualified, commenting that she was upset for the judge that had to hand her the red card just as she was poised to enter the Olympic stadium in the gold medal position.

It was a landslide victory for Brisbane

“She showed a generation of children that to meet adversity is to dust yourself off and start walking again,’’ reassuring the Olympic Movement that Australia would walk together with the Olympic Movement further again."

There was some opposition to the pitch mainly because of annoyance about the new bid process which Brisbane - fast and furious out of the gate with a ute-load of fully costed master plans - was able to squash other interest from Hungary, Germany, South Korea, Qatar and Indonesia.

The IOC members, who love having an influential role in a country’s development, were impressed that the Brisbane Games would fast track a generation of road and rail infrastructure linking the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Queensland’s fast-growing region.

Crucially, Brisbane had provided financial guarantees from all tiers of government, including Canberra, although the official host city contract was to be last night signed by Ms Palaszczuk, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane Adrian Schrinner and Mr Coates.The triumph was in spite of some member backlash against Mr Coates, also the IOC vice president who was seen to be too close to the bid process.

Mr Coates, 71, had been in charge of formulating the new bid rules, where interested regions and countries are invited to begin discussions with an IOC Future Host Commission rather than engage in the hugely expensive competitive lobbying of members.

But Mr Bach insisted Mr Coates had been cognisant of any perception of conflict of interest and had been very careful in excusing him from any discussions relating to the bid process or Brisbane 2032.

An emotional Queensland Olympic Council President and Sydney 2000 gold medalist Natalie Cook said Brisbane would never be the same.

“It’s hard to put into words, after being involved in five Olympics myself and seeing cities transform, what this means for not only Brisbane but the nation,” she said.

“Like there are few athletes who become Olympians, even fewer cities become Olympic cities.

“It’s just mind-blowing and it’s the second-best thing to winning a gold medal.”

Cook, 46, said hosting the Olympic games would be “way bigger” than her gold-medal performance on the sand in Sydney two decades ago.

“This is something that will permeate and infiltrate all corners of the state and the country,” she said.

“It will inspire people to be one step better than they were yesterday.”

Paralympics Australia President Jock O’Callaghan said Brisbane 2032 would reinforce how sport could demonstrate what people with a disability could achieve.

“Over the next decade, as we lead into Brisbane 2032, long term benefits will be realised across Australia, including in employment, skills, education, health and wellbeing outcomes, higher sporting participation rates, and in culture and community connection,” he said.

“We will be guided by a relentless focus on inclusion, diversity and accessibility and we’ll be driven by the Paralympic ideals of determination, equality, inspiration and courage.” 

Originally published as Brisbane wins Olympics bid: QLD to host 2032 Games

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