As International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry warned of “uncomfortable” discussions for several Olympic sports, Brisbane 2032 organisers say they do not know what sports are going to be considered for their own Games.
And it is a situation president Andrew Liveris is perfectly happy with.
“Well, we don’t [know], and that’s really a good thing,” Liveris said on the sidelines of the IOC Summit in Milan on Tuesday.
“We didn’t time a presidential change at the IOC level to suit our sports program, more the other way around.”
Since becoming IOC president last year, Coventry has instigated a review of more than 450 medal events from over 40 sports federations at both the Summer and Winter Games, with a view to streamlining as part of her Fit for the Future program.
Fit for the Future focuses on four pillars of the Olympic movement: the Youth Olympic Games, the Olympic program, protecting the female category, and commercial partnerships and marketing.
The Olympic program working group, chaired by Austrian Olympic Committee president Karl Stoss, was set up specifically to look at the sports program.
Its stated aims are to “find a balance between the size of the Games, the relevance of the sports and disciplines and the integration of new sports and disciplines”.
It will also consider the suggestion that traditional summer or winter sports could cross over, such as recently proposed bids from World Athletics and the UCI to add cross country running and cyclocross into the Winter Games respectively.
Could cyclocross get a run at the Winter Olympics one day? (Getty Images: Luc Claessen)
“We have to be honest about what works and sometimes more importantly what doesn’t,” Coventry said in Milan.
“It means we have to look at our sports, disciplines and events with fresh eyes to make sure we are evolving with our times.
“We will face difficult decisions and conversations — that’s part of change.
“I know these discussions can be, and potentially will be, uncomfortable but they are essential if we are to keep the Games strong for generations to come.”
Liveris said this was a great opportunity for Brisbane 2032.
“What she’s basically doing is saying, going forward, I need a sports program [that’s] fit for the future, and it’s coinciding with our selection [as hosts].
“And so, yes, we have a lot of interest, we have a lot of interest to add sports.”
Liveris said the IOC allowed Brisbane organisers to delay naming their proposed additional events so the entire program, including the “core sports”, could be re-evaluated at the same time.
“What they said about it to us is, ‘hey, why don’t you combine it? Why don’t you actually do the whole thing all together?’,” he said.
“And how pressing is that? Because here we are now with a new president who’s basically saying, ‘I want to look at the whole thing’, which fits us very nicely.”
An illustration of the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games 2032 village. (Supplied: Queensland Government)
The results of Coventry’s review into existing sports will not be announced until later in 2026, but Liveris said that would not impact his timeline for organising the Brisbane 2032 Games, despite admitting in his address that Brisbane was facing significant budgetary issues due to the dispersed nature of the venues.
“We will be in plenty of time,” he said.
“I’m not worried about any of this upsetting our plans and, frankly, it won’t upset our venues either.
“We’ve broken the back of venues, we’re getting athletics and swimming taken care of. I’m happy. The rest of it can be worked on.
“Yeah, on the margin there will be some disruption. You can’t say it’s going to be a blank slate, you know, it’ll be OK — I’m not in the job for saying things are going to be OK.”
The 2028 Los Angeles Games will feature six new or returning sports: baseball/softball, flag football, T20 cricket, lacrosse (sixes) and squash, pushing its athlete quota from an “ideal” 10,500 to a hugely bloated 13,000.
But Liveris said the key factor about LA’s additions were the existing venues that could be used.
“They are going to go through every aspect of Fit for the Future on sports,” he said.
“LA went above its quota but, in addition, they cut back disciplines, cut back events in traditional sports to make room for their additional quota, which was six sports in their case.
“Fit for the Future has that in mind, which is 10,500 athletes, we really think that’s about as many as you should have.
“LA went to 13,000, but they went to 13,000 using existing venues.
“So, when we see what the sports program is, existing venues become a big part of the criteria, right? It’ll be important. Or low-footprint sports … sports that don’t need a brand new venue of any sort.”
Several sports have already made pitches to Liveris and the Brisbane 2032 team, including breaking, which earned Australia a degree of infamy at the Paris Olympics due to RayGun’s extraordinary performance.
Is the world ready for more Raygun? (Getty Images: Elsa)
Liveris said he found breaking to be “phenomenal” for Paris, but he was not convinced the world needed a return of Australia’s divisive Olympian.
“They definitely have applied to us, so we’ll see,” Liveris said.
“No foreshadowment of who we’re going to select, though.”
When pushed, Liveris said it was the IOC’s job to select what sports would be included, although Brisbane 2032 was “very much a part” of the decision making.
Coventry, meanwhile, said the Games needed to “remain inspiring for young people everywhere” and not to remain fixated on the past.
“That they [the Olympics] reflect their values, their sense of authenticity and their search for something genuine,” Coventry said.
“Yes, Paris was a great success but this moment is now in the past.
“It would be dangerous to rest on our laurels.”
Discussion about this post