Carrara plan for world titles
CARRARA Stadium in 2025 is the target for the Queensland Government’s bid to host the world athletics championships.
The Gold Coast Suns will need another awkward conversation with the government if Carrara is rated as the best venue for the 10-day titles.
Sebastian Coe, president of world athletics governing body the IAAF, impressed on Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk the suitability of the Gold Coast to host a world championships.
A world titles at the main stadium of Commonwealth Games athletics would present another extended period of away matches for the Suns.
Brisbane’s Queensland State and Athletics Centre, which last year had two $1 million-plus Rekortan tracks installed, is an alternative option.
The next athletics world titles will be held as late as September 28-October 6 next year in the Qatari capital Doha, with this year’s and the 2021 editions scheduled for the event’s more customary window in the first half of August.
The last home-and-away round of the AFL is usually in late August and industry sources say it takes at least three months to lay a mondo synthetic track from the start.
The London world titles cost a reported $109 million to stage, with some of the investment recouped in ticket and sponsorship income and any shortfall underwritten by the British Government.
“The Gold Coast hosting the world athletics championships into the future (is) something the state government will be working towards,’’ Minister for Tourism and the Commonwealth Games Kate Jones said yesterday.
“It (Carrara) is where the discussions with Athletics Australia have been heading.’’
Asked about how a world titles in her state would disrupt the Suns, Jones said: “It’s very early discussions with having the world championships in Queensland. We’d be interested in having the world championships here and we’d have
WE’D HAVE TO WORK OUT WHERE IT WOULD BE HELD AND WHAT IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE ON USERS OF THE FACILITY KATE JONES
to work out where it would be held and what impact it would have on users of the facility.’’
Two Mondo brand tracks at Carrara, one a nearby warmup track, were to be ripped up at the end of the Gold Coast Games and it would remain to be seen what impact a retention of the warm-up track for a world titles bid would have on the Suns’ training.
The Suns will play their first Carrara (Metricon) Stadium match of this season at as late as June 2 in Round 11 after the track is removed, grass laid and a temporary stand dismantled from the stadium.