Editorial. Paris Olympics are here to remind us of the power of sport

The 2024 Paris Olympics finally are here, an opportunity to celebrate and a welcome show of global unity at a time of heightened international tension. For two weeks, billions of people around the world will share in the drama, excellence and achievements of athletes who have dedicated their lives to perfecting their sport. There will doubtless be disappointments along the way. Australians once again will have an opportunity to relive the agony and ecstasy of what it means to be part of a sport-obsessed nation.

Few have taken the Australian spirit as far as 30-year-old hockey player Matthew Dawson who, rather than miss the Games, chose to amputate the top joint of his right ring finger after a training accident when another player’s hockey stick hit his finger. Dawson will be one of 460 Australian athletes competing in the Paris Olympics across 33 sports. They will be seeking to break Australia’s record gold-medal haul of 17 from the Covid-affected Tokyo Games. For the Australian team, led by champion cyclist Anna Meares, the Paris Games will take on added significance as part of an extended lead-in to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

For the world, the Paris Games offer a rare chance at unity. Ahead of the opening ceremony in Paris on Saturday AEST, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach summed up the mood, saying at a time when the world order was deeply troubling the Olympic values of solidarity, equality and human dignity for all had never been more important. “We are witnessing a new world order in the making,” he said earlier this week. “Historic disruptions are up-ending the system of international relations that has been in place since the Second World War. The trends are unfortunately clear: decoupling of economies; beggar-thy-neighbour; narrow self-interest trumping the rule of law; ‘Global South’ vs ‘Global North’. Everywhere you look, multilateralism is on the back foot. In this new world order, ‘co-operation’ and ‘compromise’ are sadly considered disparaging terms.”

The Olympic Games are first and foremost about sport. But, as Mr Bach has emphasised, they are about so much more than sport. They are about togetherness, hope, solidarity, equality, dignity and peace through the joy and passion of sport. Paris, the City of Light, is a fitting location to remember what matters, but it is a city not without its troubles. A spectacular opening ceremony has departed from the usual Olympic stadium format to be held instead as a floating procession along the Seine River. With almost 100 boats carrying 10,500 athletes, organisers promised a visual journey through Parisian history and architecture. Starting at the Austerlitz Bridge next to the Jardin des Plantes, the 6km route takes in landmarks such as Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Louvre, as well as some Games venues including the Esplanade des Invalides and the Grand Palais. Athletes were gathered as national teams on the boats to make their way to the Trocadero – the esplanade across from the Eiffel Tower – for the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

From Paris, the Games will move to Los Angeles in 2028, then Brisbane in 2032. It is heartening to know that as political unity is tested around the world, the future of the Games is in good shape. More than $US7bn ($10.6bn) of revenue has been secured for the next Olympiad from 2025 to 2028 and an additional $US6.2bn in deals for the period 2029 to 2032 that culminates with the Brisbane Games. This money will help ensure a global competition.

As the smallest city to be awarded the Olympics in nearly four decades, Brisbane has a big responsibility to deliver. It was chosen as part of the IOC’s New Norm reforms that will provide cities with increased flexibility in designing the Games to meet long-term development goals, and will ensure that host cities receive more assistance from the IOC and the wider Olympic movement. Brisbane is unlikely to match the historical aura or pageantry of Paris or the star power of LA, but it is well equipped to deliver on what the Olympic spirit is really all about. First it must deal with the disorganisation and cost issues surrounding the best solution for an Olympic stadium. Too long in the job, the Labor state government has lost focus on how to deliver infrastructure in a timely and cost-effective way. Brisbane and the Gold Coast have the unenviable reputation of being the most expensive places in the nation to build big projects. The dust will not settle until after this year’s state election, but there is still plenty of time to get it right.

In the meantime, the Paris Olympics are here to remind us what it is all about – the human spirit, and how sport remains a unifying force for good.

Let the Games begin.