IOC confident that Brisbane on track for 2032 Summer Games

SYDNEY – The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) confidence that Brisbane organisers were on the right path to host the 2032 Olympics has been reaffirmed by a three-day visit to the city by the coordination commission, its new chief said on May 22.

Former showjumper Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski officially took over during the visit from IOC President-elect Kirsty Coventry as chair of the commission, which oversees preparations for the Games on behalf of the Olympic movement.

“Through our regular engagement with the organising committee, we are confident that Brisbane 2032 is on the right path,” Jaworski told a news conference in Brisbane.

“This week gave us meaningful opportunity to witness progress firsthand and to reaffirm our commitment to Games that will leave a lasting legacy for the community and place Brisbane confidently on the world stage.”

Jaworski said the example of the legacies for Melbourne and Sydney when those cities hosted the Games in 1956 and 2000 should convince waverers in Brisbane of how beneficial the Olympics would be for the city.

“Melbourne has hosted, and Sydney has hosted, and there’s certainly legacy there,” she said.

“There’s a lot of goodwill globally remembering these cities as hosts, and I think we can count on Brisbane... being brought to the world stage (if) we have a successful Games.”

Since the last meeting of the coordination commission, the Queensland government has published its third, and what it says will be the final, venue plan for the Games.

Despite bid commitments on sustainability in line with the IOC’s “New Norm” reforms for host cities, the plan included the building of a new Olympic stadium and a national aquatics centre in an inner city Brisbane park.

“When you talk about the ‘New Norm’, I think one of the key things is about the Games being