The Queensland government has announced a new stadium at Victoria Park to host the 2032 Olympic Games following a 100 day review.
The Liberal government led by Premier David Crisafulli overturned the prior Labor government’s plans to refurbish the dated Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre. The choice of QSAC, which would have been redeveloped to a boutique 20,000 spectator stadium and expended with temporary seating up to 40,000 for the Games, drew criticism due to its location accessible only by car and bus, and the size of the stadium being the smallest at an Olympics for over a century.
It would however have provided a legacy for athletics as a post Games venue, which won’t occur at the Victoria Park with the venue to revert to AFL and cricket use post Games.
The central Victoria Park stadium will have capacity for 63,000 spectators.
“It became a choice between the embarrassment of hosting the games at QSAC or a new stadium at Victoria Park.”
David Crisafulli, Queensland Premier
“The Games must be held at a new stadium at Victoria Park,” Crisafulli said.
“Any other choice would have meant placing the government’s interests ahead of the interests of Queensland.
“In the end it became a choice between QSAC and temporary facilities or building new generational facilities. We’re talking about infrastructure that will serve the community for generations to come.”
The 50-year-old Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre, originally called Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Sports Centre and which hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, now faces an uncertain future given the level of Olympic infrastructure spending on other facilities in the sunshine state. The venue has hosted more editions of the Australian Championships than any other existing venue and last hosted a open national level event in the 2023 season with the 100th edition of Australian Championships. The Brisbane Track Classic was last held the same year before being dropped from the Australian Athletics domestic series for 2024 and 2025.
In a statement Australian Athletics and Queensland Athletics welcomed the news of the Victoria Park venue but raised concerns about a lack of legacy for athletics from Brisbane 2032.
“Today’s announcement leaves the state [Queensland] with no legacy venue and no suitable venue for lead up international and Nationals events before the Games, impacting preparation, participation and performance,” the statement reads.
“Our athletes, including our para athletes, are forced to train and compete at a 50-year-old facility that does not meet modern accessibility standards and building codes, and 2032 is the opportunity to change this. We will seek funding to address this in the near future.”
Sydney’s Olympic Stadium in 2000 was the largest ever for an Olympic Games with a capacity of 115,000.
The legacy from the Sydney Olympics – established six years prior to the Games being held – is the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre, which served as a warm-up track for 2000. Along with QSAC, SOPAC is the only location in Australia that has a full-sized warm-up track. It is unknown what warm up track arrangements will be for the Brisbane 2032 Games.
The legacy venue from the 1956 Olympics held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne’s Olympic Park, was demolished in 2011 to make way for a training ground for Collingwood Football Club.
