Brisbane officially won, Wednesday, July 21, the organization of the Summer Olympics (OG) 2032, allowing the Olympic world to prepare for the future, two days before the opening of the Tokyo Games, tumultuous for the city host and troubled by the pandemic.
Alone in the running, the Australian city was elected by the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gathered for their 138e session in the Japanese capital and will therefore succeed Paris, host of the 2024 Olympics, then Los Angeles, which will host those of 2028.
Never before has the biggest sporting event in the world been entrusted without a competition. This designation without competition may come as a surprise, as the ceremonial vote separating the candidate cities to host the Games has punctuated decades of Olympic life, with its costly lobbying behind the scenes and then its opening of an envelope followed by hugs or tears. But the reform adopted in June 2019 allows the IOC to initiate a “Targeted dialogue” with a candidate “Preferential”, with the aim of defusing the growing reluctance to organize the Olympic Games, to reduce costs and to constitute a breeding ground for future host cities.
Aided by the influence of Australian IOC Vice-President John Coates, Brisbane had been on track since February to secure the 35e Summer Games, despite the Olympic ambition of Qatar then the joint candidacy of North Korea and South Korea. None of these files was put to the vote of the session. In June, the head of the instance, Thomas Bach, had, moreover, praised the file ” irresistible “ and “Love” Australians for sport.
Third Summer Olympics in Australia
Australia, among the few countries to have never missed an edition of the Summer Games, is “A huge Olympic village” with its multiple nationalities, ethnic origins and approximately 300 spoken languages, underlined, Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, by videoconference.
The capital of Queensland, already a candidate for the 1992 Olympics awarded to Barcelona and involved in 2018 in hosting the Commonwealth Games, also promises “84% of existing and temporary sites”, a key criterion since the Olympic body began its hunt for Olympic facilities that were subsequently abandoned.
This is the third time in its history that Australia will host the Summer Games, after Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000. Its designation also confirms the traditional continental rotation organized by the IOC, after Asia this year, then Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, while Africa is still awaiting its first Olympic Games.
The metropolis of 2.3 million inhabitants hopes that the Games will generate a net gain in international notoriety, while it remains considered by many tourists as a simple gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.
“Everywhere I have traveled people ask me “Where is Brisbane?”, and you have to pull out a map to show them it’s an hour from Sydney by plane ”, says the president of the Queensland Olympic Council, Natalie Cook. “It’s going to change and it’s very exciting. “
His case provides for a budget of 4.5 billion Australian dollars (2.8 billion euros), justified by the existing infrastructure and very much lower than the 13 billion euros spent for the Tokyo Olympics.