The International Olympic Committee, on Wednesday afternoon, chose Brisbane, Australia to host the 2032 Summer Olympic Games, in a rare one-city bid that officials hope will help to avoid rival bidding controversies from the awarding of previous events.
The return of the games to Australian soil will mark the third such event for the country, and first since Sydney in 2000. Melbourne hosted the Summer Games in 1956. Brisbane will follow this year’s host, Tokyo, the 2024 host in Paris, and the 2028 games in Los Angeles, in welcoming the two-week long celebration of sports and competition. Just like Paris and Los Angeles, Brisbane will receive 11 years to prepare efforts as host.
Exclusive negotiating rights were given to the Australian city in February, leaving potential bidders Qatar, Hungary, and Germany on the sidelines. Brisbane officially won the final vote by IOC members 72-5.
The two previous Summer Olympic games, Rio in 2016 and the postponed Tokyo event, originally planned for 2020, were hit by allegations of ‘vote buying’. Officials from both remain under investigation.
The Winter Olympic Games could be dealing with their bit of controversy in 2022, with Beijing, China hosting the event, bringing China’s human rights record to the forefront of the converging media members from overseas.
Photo credit – Gary Curtis / Wikimedia Commons / Brisbane, Australia