Brisbane's successful bid to host the 2032 Olympics should boost New Zealand's chances of medals, claims NZ Olympic Committee boss Kereyn Smith.
The Australian city will host the Games in 11 years, after the International Olympic Committee approving the recommendation of its executive board.
Brisbane, where a crowd had gathered to watch the announcement on big screens, becomes the third Australian city to get the Games, after Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.
Its selection means Australia becomes only the second country in the world - after the United States - to stage summer Olympic Games in three different cities.
But the announcement also comes as good news for New Zealand, which should enjoy the benefits of having the Games right next door.
"We warmly congratulate our Australian friends and colleagues on their successful bid to host the 2032 Olympic Games," says Smith.
"A Southern Hemsiphere Olympic Games is fantastic for New Zealand athletes and sport, providing at 'at home' experience for the New Zealand team, with better travel, time-zones andtraining opportunities.
"Additional Oceania quota spots will open up, providing more openings for elite New Zealand athletes."
Smith says New Zealand should also host pre-Games training camps and competition, while international travellers would likely consider venturing across the Tasman as part of their itineraries.
"It's a win for Australia that Kiwis are geniuine happy about."
PREFERRED HOST
Queensland's state capital had been the preferred host, chosen in February, and had earned the nod of the executive board last month.
Several cities and countries had publicly expressed an interest in staging the 2032 Games, including Indonesia, Hungary's capital Budapest, China, Qatar's Doha and Germany's Ruhr Valley region.
But in a new process adopted by the IOC that does not openly pit cities against each other, Brisbane had already moved ahead of any rival back in February, after being selected as a "preferred host".
The city's bid had earned repeated praise from the IOC for its high percentage of existing venues, support from all levels of government and the private sector, experience in organising major events and its favourable weather, among other things.
A commitment from the Australian government to split the infrastructure costs 50-50 with local government allowed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to forward the necessary financial guarantees to the IOC.
The state of Queensland hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Awarding the Games to Australia was also a nod to senior IOC member John Coates, a current IOC vice president, and one of the closest allies to IOC president Thomas Bach.
Coates, who reaches an IOC age limit of 74 in 2024 and will be forced to leave the organisation, had unsuccessfully attempted to land the 1992 Games for Brisbane that eventually were awarded to Barcelona.
The IOC overhauled its bidding rules in 2019 to reduce costs and make the process easier for cities. There are no official candidate cities campaigning ahead of the vote as has been the case in the past.
Instead, the IOC picks a preferred host after talks with all interested cities and then puts that city to a vote at its session.
Tokyo is hosting the postponed 2020 Olympics this week and Paris will stage the 2024 Games. Los Angeles has been awarded the 2028 Summer Olympics.
