Push for Olympic hub

Rolling out red carpet in bid to lure back athletes

INTERNATIONAL teams competing at the Commonwealth Games will be lobbied to bring their athletes back to the Gold Coast in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

In a move to ensure continued use of the Gold Coast’s state-of-the-art sporting venues after next April’s Commonwealth Games, teams from sports such as athletics, swimming and field hockey could return to the Gold Coast JEREMY PIERCE for training camps in preparation for Tokyo in 2020.

The Runaway Bay Sports Super Centre has recently completed a $5 million upgrade and regularly hosts teams from interstate and overseas, but venue director Brendan Flynn said they were already looking further ahead.

“The climate here in JulyAugust is very similar to Tokyo and it’s only a one-hour time difference, so it would make a perfect training base,” he said.

More than $200 million was spent building or upgrading venues, but it’s an investment already paying dividends.

Across the city, new venues built or upgraded for the Commonwealth Games have already been used by more than two million people, injecting more than $50 million in to the region’s economy.

Kevin Filo, an associate professor of sports management at Griffith University, said that attracting sports teams or events to the Gold Coast post-Commonwealth Games could deliver huge benefits to the region.

“All the infrastructure, including the venues, even the trams, it’s a brilliant showcase,” he said. “You add that to the incredible climate, the best beaches in the world, the livability of the city, there’s a tremendous opportunity.”

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the city was working to “roll out the red carpet” to sports from around the world.

“Legacy outcomes from the Games will be critical to our city’s future – and our venues are one of the greatest legacy contributions from GC2018,” Cr Tate said. “It will also allow us to bid for major national and pacific competitions.’’

Runaway Bay has already been locked in to host the Australian Parachuting Championships next September, in an event expected to bring up to 40,000 people to the city.

The Broadbeach Bowls Club, another Games venue, which has just undergone a $4.95 million facelift, will host several major international meets, including the World Championships, until at least 2020.