Brisbane chosen to host 2032 Olympics without rival bid

TOKYO – Brisbane was chosen to host the 2032 Olympics on Wednesday, the inevitable winner of a race to an IOC-led city to avoid rival bids.

The Games will return to Australia 32 years after the popular Sydney Olympics in 2000. Melbourne hosted in 1956.

“We know what it takes to have a successful Games in Australia,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told voters at the International Olympic Committee in an 11-minute live video link from his office.

Brisbane follows Los Angeles, host of 2028, as it prepares for 11 years to host the Games. Paris will host in 2024.

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The 2032 deal for the city on Australia’s east coast appeared to be concluded even months before the official decision of the IOC members at their meeting ahead of the Tokyo Games, which open on Friday.

The IOC granted Brisbane exclusive negotiating rights in February. The move left Olympic officials from Qatar, Hungary and Germany blinded by their own bid plans stalled.

Brisbane was the first winner in a new auction format. It allows the IOC to approach potential candidates and select them without challenge before the previously mandated seven-year lead forces others into Olympic competition.

The streamlined process was designed to reduce campaign costs, give the CIO more control, and eliminate the risk of vote buying.

The Olympic events will be staged across the state of Queensland, including the Gold Coast, which hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.