Progress has been thwarted by decisions and (healthy) debate,but has it meant we’ve lost our way? Can we still leverage the Games for the city’s wellbeing?
Brisbane isn’t the only city to debate the cost of hosting the 16-day event while striving for a longer-term legacy outside of sporting venues.
In 1988,just hours after Melbourne released details of its proposal for the 1996 Olympic Games,the New South Wales Premier,Nick Greiner,announced Sydney would make a rivalling bid.
The Australian Olympic Committee will elect a president to replace the departing John Coates in April after navigating a tumultuous Olympic double act.
Fifty years ago,a group of activists did the unthinkable – they made Denver give up the 1976 Winter Olympics,forcing the IOC to find another host city.
Carlos Nuzman has been found guilty of corruption and other crimes. A former Rio governor and two other officials have also been sentenced.
The Olympics are evolving in every sense. A city the size of Brisbane playing host is just the start. Organisers are being bold with their ideas for the 2032 showpiece.
With an historic 11-year head start,economic and tourism experts have also warned more immediate benefits flowing from the Brisbane 2032 announcement would likely be from publicity alone.
The economic return of the Brisbane Olympics will be at least controversial,yet the bottom line aspires to little that most of us value.
Among his extraordinary talents for navigating the born-to-rule bureaucracy of the IOC and bending the will of state and federal governments to his ends,John Coates has an Olympic-sized capacity for humiliation.
For so long men have demeaned and degraded women,but too often it’s been invisible. The Australian Olympic Committee president,at least,has put it right out in the open.