Getting a head start: the 2032 Olympic Movement through the preferred candidature bid involving Brisbane, Australia

Abstract

The Olympic bidding process prior to 2024 was altered in 2019 to provide greater transparency and reduce unnecessary work related to the preparation for each bid, of which there can only be one host. This paper analyses the process of the 2032 Olympics through the notion of a preferred candidate in Brisbane, Australia. Through a document analysis of five official documents and submissions in the lead up to the IOC announcement of the preferred bid in February 2021, this paper elucidates how the Olympic Movement is shaped and refined to offer a more nuanced perspective of how such a preferred bid could be advantageous in terms of more inclusive legacy outcomes to the IOC, as well as the destination.

Keywords:

• Olympic bid
• Queensland Olympics
• South East Queensland
• International Olympic Committee
• Olympic legacies

Disclosure statement

The author is a member of the Committee for Brisbane’s Brisbane 2033: Olympics and Paralympics Taskforce, and contributed to the development of the Legacies Paper used in the manuscript.