I recall the excitement in September 1993 when Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC president, announced "the winner is Sydney" to confirm that Sydney had won the right to host the 2000 Olympic Games. In doing so, Sydney beat four other cities, including Bejing, Manchester, Berlin and Istanbul.
This bidding process adopted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has bidding cities spending tens of millions of dollars to secure the necessary votes required from IOC member countries. Bidding cites used most of the money to win favour with individual countries, to ensure their vote and guarantee a winning bid. This bidding process forced the cost of hosting the Olympic Games up and allowed graft and corruption to prevail.
The IOC overhauled its bidding rules in 2019 to reduce costs and make the process easier for cities. No official candidate cities are campaigning before the vote, as has been the case in the past. The Future Host Commission will be responsible for continuous dialogue between interested cities and the targeted dialogue with a preferred host for a particular year.
For the 2032 Olympics Games, Brisbane, the Queensland capital, has been selected as the preferred host. Brisbane was praised for its high percentage of existing venues, a good masterplan, experience in organising major events and favourable weather.
The move means the IOC will now engage in detailed and targeted discussions with Brisbane organisers and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) over the coming months. If all of the conditions are met, Australia will be hosting its third Olympics in just over a decade.
Though Brisbane is the preferred host, it is not yet confirmed. I look for the finalisation of the targeted discussions, and I have little doubt that the IOC president will soon be announcing that "the winner is Brisbane."