Brisbane was awarded the 2032 Olympics on Wednesday, triggering wild celebrations and fireworks as it became the third Australian city to host the Summer Games after Melbourne and Sydney.
International
Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach confirmed the widely expected result
after delegates voted 72 to five with three abstentions at the IOC session in
Tokyo.
“The
International Olympic Committee has the honour to announce that the Games of
the 35th Olympiad are awarded to Brisbane, Australia,” Bach said.
The announcement
was greeted by cheers from the Australian delegates in Tokyo, while in Brisbane
fireworks lit up the skies and crowds who had gathered for the vote went wild.
Brisbane’s victory
looked a certainty after it was unanimously proposed as the single candidate
for 2032 by the IOC’s 15-strong executive board in June.
“I’m so
excited — I have so much pride for my
state, for my people. Never in my lifetime did I think that this was going to
happen,” said Queensland state premier Anna Palaszczuk. “We”ve
done it, Queensland! We’ve done it, Brisbane! This is fantastic, this is
amazing –- tonight is your night, enjoy.”
Australia has
already hosted the Olympics twice, in Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000,
widely considered one of the most successful Games in recent history.
Hundreds of people
packed Brisbane’s Southbank riverside precinct for the announcement, watching
the city’s final pitch to the IOC on a big screen.
Rhys Cush, 24, one
of those in the masked-up crowd, said he hoped to work at the 2032 Olympics and
also attend as a spectator.
“I’m an
extremely big fan. I even watched the softball this morning,” he told AFP.
“I’m super excited about having the Olympics coming here.”
Lauren Granger,
42, said she hoped the 2032 Olympics would recreate the buzz of Sydney’s
successful 2000 Games.
“We flew down
to Sydney and we were at the Olympics and it was just such a great experience
for our family,” she said. “That was 20 years ago so we’d love to be
able to relive that in 2032 with our kids.”
