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Brisbane 2032 Marks 10 Years Out from Summer Olympics

President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach announces Brisbane as the 2032 Summer Olympics host city during the 138th IOC Session at Hotel Okura in Tokyo, July 21, 2021. (AP)
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach announces Brisbane as the 2032 Summer Olympics host city during the 138th IOC Session at Hotel Okura in Tokyo, July 21, 2021. (AP)
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Brisbane 2032 Marks 10 Years Out from Summer Olympics

President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach announces Brisbane as the 2032 Summer Olympics host city during the 138th IOC Session at Hotel Okura in Tokyo, July 21, 2021. (AP)
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach announces Brisbane as the 2032 Summer Olympics host city during the 138th IOC Session at Hotel Okura in Tokyo, July 21, 2021. (AP)

Brisbane 2032 Olympic officials staged an event Saturday that not many other previous host cities have had the opportunity to celebrate: 10 years out until their Games begin.

The east coast Australian city and capital of Queensland state was awarded the 2032 Games a year ago after the International Olympic Committee rubber-stamped an earlier recommendation from its Executive Board.

Brisbane was the first city to be awarded a Games under the IOC's revamped procedure for choosing host cities which saw a small group of IOC members identify and propose host cities to the board.

Previously Games had been awarded to both Summer and Winter Games hosts seven years out from them being held -- although at an IOC session in 2017, the IOC chose both Paris (2024) and Los Angeles (2028) as future host cities.

The Brisbane Games are scheduled to be held from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2032 in Brisbane and in coastal communities south on the Gold Coast and north on the Sunshine Coast.

On Saturday, the Australian Olympic Committee held a family fun day with the public along the riverfront in downtown Brisbane with a slogan “Our Time Starts Now.”

“That’s how we look at the incredible opportunities over the next decade,” AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said in a statement. “We have talked about more than 30 major international sporting events coming to Australia and community infrastructure coming on-line in the decade ahead.”

The Brisbane organizing committee is still composed of only a skeleton staff but officials hope to name a fulltime chief executive officer by the end of this year. Current plans are for six new venues and eight redeveloped facilities among 22 competition sites.

Australia last staged the Summer Olympics in 2000 at Sydney and hosted the Games for the first and only other time in Melbourne in 1956.

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Open Water Swimmers Train in Seine Ahead of 10-kilometer Marathon Races

07 August 2024, France, Paris: Germany's Florian Wellbrock fills a bottle with water during the first training session for Olympic open water swimmers in the Seine after it was cancelled over water quality concerns. Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa
07 August 2024, France, Paris: Germany's Florian Wellbrock fills a bottle with water during the first training session for Olympic open water swimmers in the Seine after it was cancelled over water quality concerns. Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa
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Open Water Swimmers Train in Seine Ahead of 10-kilometer Marathon Races

07 August 2024, France, Paris: Germany's Florian Wellbrock fills a bottle with water during the first training session for Olympic open water swimmers in the Seine after it was cancelled over water quality concerns. Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa
07 August 2024, France, Paris: Germany's Florian Wellbrock fills a bottle with water during the first training session for Olympic open water swimmers in the Seine after it was cancelled over water quality concerns. Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa

Olympic open water swimmers trained in the long-polluted Seine River on Wednesday after Paris organizers determined it was safe to dive in.
A two-hour training session was held on a cool, cloudy morning, providing the only chance for swimmers to familiarize themselves with the picturesque course through the middle of the French capital.
Dozens of swimmers — from 2016 Olympic champion Sharon van Rouwendaal to Ireland's Daniel Wiffen, competing in open water for the first time — dove into the Seine one day before the women’s 10-kilometer marathon event. The men’s race is set for Friday.
Before diving in, several swimmers checked out the conditions from the famed Pont Alexandre III, adorned with golden statues and overlooking the starting buoy and finishing chute.
“I think if anyone’s saying they’re not concerned at all, they’re probably lying,” Austrian swimmer Felix Auboeck said. “I am concerned. I just hope and trust the organization in the sense that they let us in when it’s safe enough to do so. But, of course, you’re concerned because no one wants to get ill or sick.”
Then again, Auboeck can see the appeal of swimming in the Seine at the course that has the Eiffel Tower, the gold-domed Invalides, and other stunning Paris landmarks for a backdrop.
“It is super exciting that this is scenery where we are racing,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying. “That’s probably like the best thing we can do for the sport.”
World Aquatics canceled a test run Tuesday because of concerns over fluctuating bacteria levels in the waterway. Despite massive efforts to clear the Seine, water quality has been a constant concern throughout the Games.
But officials expressed confidence that both races will be held without any issues, especially with a favorable forecast that calls for sunny skies in the afternoon and little chance of rain.
Open water swimmers do most of their training in the controlled conditions of a pool. While concerns about bacteria levels in the Seine might have prompted some to skip the training session and limit their time in the river to the actual event, it appeared that a majority took advantage of the training session — especially to check out the strong current that has also raised concerns.
The current has been measured at 2-3 mph, a significant challenge when going upstream on the six-lap course.
“The current is just going to be another challenge,” Auboeck said. “It’s going to be very, very different to what we have seen before. I wish there would have been more practice races with a current like this. That would have been good.”
Triathlon events have already been held in the river, though the schedule was upended by the readings that are taken daily of the water quality.
Now, it’s time for open water, which at least has a backup plan in place if the Seine is determined to be unsafe. The races would be shifted to Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, site of the rowing and canoeing events.
The triathlon mixed relay event was held Monday. World Triathlon released data Tuesday showing the levels of fecal bacteria E. coli and enterococci were within acceptable levels for the length of the triathlon relay course during those swims.
The marathon swims take place on longer portions of the river and will start and finish at the Pont Alexandre III. Marathon swimmers do six laps on the 1.67-kilometer (1 mile) course for a total of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles.)
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who took a highly publicized swim in the Seine in July to allay fears about water quality ahead of the Olympics, expressed confidence in the preparations.
“There’s been a clear improvement of the weather these past few days,” she said. “So I’m really proud and happy and to all those who want to continue saying it’s impossible to depollute a river, I tell them, ’Yes it’s possible, we did it.’”