25 Feb 2021

Brisbane preferred partner to host Olympic Games

8:09 am on 25 February 2021

Brisbane has been confirmed as the International Olympic Committee's preferred partner to host the 2032 summer games.

Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Suncorp Stadium Photo: PHOTOSPORT

IOC President Thomas Bach said the IOC had approved a recommendation of the Future Host Commission to open talks with the Brisbane rganising committee about their potential to host the games.

Several cities and countries had publicly expressed an interest in the 2032 Games including Brisbane, Indonesia, Budapest, China, Doha and Germany's Ruhr valley among others.

The IOC overhauled its bidding rules in 2019 to reduce costs and make the process easier for cities. There are no official candidate cities campaigning ahead of the vote as has been the case in the past.

The IOC gave a number of reasons for selecting Brisbane, including using 80 to 90 percent of existing venues, their high level of experience of hosting major events and the favourable climate in July and August.

IOC President Thomas Bach said "the commitment of Australia and Oceania to Olympic sports has grown remarkably since the fantastic Olympic Games Sydney 2000. This is why we see such strong public support."

"We decided to seize an opportunity to take to the next stage our discussions about returning 32 years later. In this way, we are also acknowledging the strength of the Australian team and other athletes from across the continent of Oceania at the Olympic Games over the past decades."

Some of the venus are expected to also be on the Gold Coast, which hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

-Reuters/RNZ