Australian Olympic scouts have hit the ground running across Queensland in an early-strike operation for the best facilities and villages to give homegrown heroes a gold-medal advantage.
Australian Olympic Committee chief Mark Arbib has revealed his games and performance staff have been inspecting and studying Brisbane 2032 venues, training, recovery and village facilities across the state ahead of the most decentralised summer Games in history.
Mr Arbib was tight-lipped on which regional towns had already been visited but said his team were using the lessons learned from the recent Milano-Cortina winter games, held over thousands kilometres and mountainous Italian terrain, to find any hurdles early.
“It’s logistically challenging from a team perspective, but we learnt some excellent lessons in Milano-Cortina and a huge amount of planning and organisation is already underway,” he said.
“The Brisbane 2032 planned venues look like they are going to be world-class, from the AOC’s perspective — it’s now ensuring our own team accommodation, high performance, recovery, nutrition and medical facilities are up to the standards that our athletes require.
“We will do everything we can to give our athletes an edge.”
And if something is not up to scratch, a four-time Olympian will be on the case — one who helped keep the Aussie pantry in Paris stocked with protein after village-wide shortages.
“The AOC led by Chef de Mission and Olympian Anna Meares will work with (Brisbane 2032) and our sports to ensure that if there’s a challenge or if there is a need we have a solution to overcome it,” he said.
The Courier-Mail revealed last year our biggest sporting rivals, US Olympic and Paralympic Committee had already been eyeing off the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus as a training base, but no deal yet has been confirmed.
Mr Arbib said when the curtain falls at the LA 2028 closing ceremony, rival teams will be making a beeline down under.
“That’s when Queensland becomes the centre of global sport,” he said.
“Sporting teams from across the planet will want to be here getting themselves acclimatised, seeing venues and competing against Australian athletes — the AOC and our Olympians will be ready.”
From the Sunshine State to the Big Apple, the AOC are also leveraging the passion for the green and gold and the big expat community in the US to boost our 2032 chances.
The Olympic Club of Australia recently established an Los Angeles chapter, chaired by retired Olympian Simon Arkell, and Mr Arbib revealed another in New York was just months away.
These organisations are aimed at raising philanthropic funds and support — money that will go direct to the athletes.
“We are working closely with Olympians and prominent Australians living in the United States to build a serious presence on the east and west coast,” he said.
“These organisations are aimed at raising philanthropic funds and support — money that will be going direct to our Olympians.
“Most Olympians don’t do it for the money, but at the same time they shouldn’t be penalised or punished because of the personal sacrifice they and their families make.”
The AOC are expected to announce the official opening of a dedicated office in Brisbane later this year, after recently partnering with Brisbane City Council to launch the Kangacat ferry.