Brisbane "Frontrunner" in Bid to Host 2032 Olympic Games

Brisbane has been officially nominated by the International Olympic Committee as the candidate city to host the 2032 Summer Olympics. Preliminary estimates suggest that successfully hosting the Games would bring Queensland billions of dollars in revenue and 130,000 jobs.

The full plans for the Brisbane Olympics have not yet been revealed, but there are indications that Suncorp Stadium could become the first rectangular stadium to host an Olympic opening and closing ceremony. It is also understood that the IOC would not object to using the large Carrara stadium — which hosted the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games — as the athletics venue.

The redeveloped Ballymore appears set to become the venue for the Olympic hockey competition, while it is believed organisers are closely considering holding the marathon on the Sunshine Coast. Cairns and Townsville could host the preliminary rounds of the football competition, and Toowoomba and Ipswich may also host football matches, with the latter potentially hosting the modern pentathlon as well.

If Queensland's bid is successful, it would be the third time Australia has hosted the Olympics, after the 1956 Melbourne Games and the 2000 Sydney Games.

When Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk officially announced the state's participation in the bid at the end of 2019, she said "future generations" would benefit. "The Olympics of course means a great deal to this state," she said at the time. "It is a source of pride for our state. It tells the rest of the world that we are firmly on the map." At the time it was estimated that Queensland already had 80% of the required infrastructure and that the Games would create 120,000 jobs. "We can look at the infrastructure we already have," she said. "We don't have to go and build large venues that won't be used in the future."