There's a little way to go yet but once it's absolutely confirmed a 2032 Olympic Games for South East Queensland could be marvellous not just for Brisbane but for the whole country.
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And it will likely manifest itself as the re-invention of Games delivery that the Olympic movement absolutely needs to maintain its relevance and re-assert its pre-eminence in the leadership of world sport.
About three years ago the International Olympic Committee was so short of candidate cities under its then bidding guidelines that in July 2017 it gave away the 2024 and 2028 Games to Paris and Los Angeles respectively. They were the only two bidders still at the table for the 2024 Games.
Things were being addressed after the Olympic 2020 Agenda report was adopted in 2014, but it was not until the IOC "session" in 2019 that more fundamental changes were made that enabled this week's decision on Brisbane to be a possibility.
He may have his equals somewhere but there is no-one smarter in global sport than the Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates.
Coates was acutely aware that the changes in process would work well for a candidate that already had a reputation for successful delivery of sporting events and had significant infrastructure in place.
When the rest of the world went to sleep on these matters during the COVID-19 shutdown and even the Queensland government put the bidding process "on hold", Coates and his colleagues at the AOC seized the moment to embellish the bid's credentials.
The new system avoids the tacky old bidding process which saw IOC members trooping all over the world with the potential of the odd palm being over-greased here and there. It puts the onus instead on the IOC's internal processes, most specifically through its host city commission, to work with potential venues to get the best outcome and without cities incurring huge costs to bid.
As a result of this new paradigm Brisbane finds itself in the box seat to be negotiated with as the preferred bidder - until the IOC feels ready to present a final recommendation to its members for approval - a 50 per cent + one vote for a single proposed candidate.
The AOC's relentless work and Coates' influence as an IOC vice-president, together with Queensland authorities and the federal government, has clearly made Brisbane's case too tempting to be overlooked.
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That final vote might be during this year - delivering Queensland with the same 11-year unexpected advance preparation period as Los Angeles.
This is an extraordinary bonus which can send Australian sport to an even better place than it found itself during the 1990s before those exceptional Games in Sydney.
But for world sport and the IOC, assuming Brisbane gets the Games and delivers as expected, it will be a huge boost as desirable future hosts will see advantage and opportunity - rather than unknown risk and cost.
The lead-in to Sydney transformed Australian sport and event delivery beyond even the wildest of dreams. At the very base it created a different culture of event volunteering, grassroots participation and fan bases.
Through the Gold Medal Plan - an initiative of the AOC, the federal and state governments and their institutes of sport - coaching bloomed and athletes were given training and life environments in which they could adequately prepare for a home Games.
Para-sport in Australia moved from obscurity to an opportunity for more Australians with a disability to explore their talents, in front of an increasingly engaged audience. And then there were the sporting bodies across the nation who fearlessly seized the moment to create programs and competitions that previously had been way too hard.
I had the absolute privilege from day one on September 24, 1993 to play a lead role in delivering athletics at the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was a special opportunity for our team which was fortunate to be paid for the honour, and the much larger contingent who did it solely for love.
We adored almost every minute and achieved great things - perhaps even more so in those seven years in advance than in the marvellous delivery of the two Games.
Now there's a chance 30 years on for another generation. From personal experience it would be crazy for it not to be seized with equal or greater passion.
