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Milano Cortina 2026's answer to Parade has been announced:

Brisbane Stadium Principal Architects appointed: Cox, Hassell, and Azusa Sekkei Artist Impressions This news hot off the press today from the Courier Mail. …. and wow, this has happened a lot earlier way than I thought. So the Principal Architects of Brisbane Stadium have been announced: COX, Hassell, and Azusa Sekkei. Within this Brisbane Stadium design team is Cox Architecture who also designed Perth’s extraordinary multi-use Optus Stadium, which is a similar size (60,000) to Brisbane Stadium (63,000). The report goes on to say: “COX, Hassell, and Azusa Sekkei have been appointed as the principal architects for the new Brisbane Stadium, bringing together international and Australian expertise to deliver a world-class venue.” “Their design vision is intended to celebrate Queensland’s distinctive lifestyle, climate, and cultural character, while creating a stadium that will serve as a long-term civic landmark well beyond the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.” “The project team will oversee the stadium through both the design and construction phases over the coming years.” “According to GIICA Chair Stephen Conry, the selection process focused heavily on visionary design, innovation, and the ability to work collaboratively on a project of global significance.” “The consortium’s strong track record in delivering major stadium infrastructure was a key factor in their appointment.” “The Brisbane Stadium is positioned as a flagship project that will elevate Queensland’s profile on the world stage, deliver lasting economic and social benefits, and provide a venue that Queenslanders can take pride in for generation” I like these first artist impressions of Brisbane Stadium - plenty of tropical feels light, space and greenery - compatible with Victoria Park. Looking forward to the final stadium design, details and features being released. Credit: Courier Mail

One month to go+

WELCOME TO SANTIAGO! WELCOMETO THE SOUTH!

BONG BONG The vote is closed, & we have a winner! I have the honour of announcing that the 19th GB Winter Olympic logo comp host city is SANTIAGO! The final result: Canberra: 2 Harbin: 0 Quebec City: 4 Santiago: 7 Trojena: 6 The comp will open for submission tomorrow, Christmas Eve

I guess that is how you say "Thank you Cyriln for summarising and translating the key content"....

IT'S CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAAAAAAAS*! *And this time I actually mean it And stopping off here on her way to the San Siro is Mariah - because if there's one thing we can all agree we need at this time of year, it's to hear that bloody song yet again listen to something seasonal. It is Christmas Eve in everywhere that it's not Christmas Day, which means it's time to finally give out the Christmas present we promised you 23 days ago, way back when the nights were lighter & some of us thought England could possibly play cricket (apologies to @Bear, I'm afraid this is what usually happens in Australia. Ashes in England usually resemble competitive sport). Anyway, the big event is here - it's time to reveal our 19th summer and winter logo comp victims cities! And there has been one change - because it'll the first time in god knows how long, we will introduce new years for this edition! SUMMER 2040: ROME, ITALY This comp counts down to what will be the fourth Olympics to open with the world's finest national anthem, & what better way to start 2026 than by honouring Italy in the capital city, the Eternal City, Rome. If there's anywhere that truly doesn't need an introduction, it's here. I mean, just follow any road. OK, recently it is literally famous for finding imaginative ways to not host the Olympics, but if you're a designer & you want inspiration, you'll find it here - so how will you brand a second Roman Olympics 80 years after the first? WINTER 2042: SANTIAGO, CHILE Last week they had an election, & this week they won a better one. In a moment to make even Kirsty proud, you voted to make history, sending the Winter Games (well the comp) over the Equator to South America & the mighty Andes for the very first time. Let's be honest, the World Cup will probably be in Saudi again so June will be free. It's not often we get to do something completely different, but Latin American Winter fits the bill tbf. How will you brand a truly historic Winter Olympic edition? -------------------------------------- And now THE RULES, copied and pasted (mostly) from last year. Kirsty doesn't even know what this is yet, so it stays as is: We are, as ever, after logos that encompass the overall feel of the city and local influences that can be tied into a design concept. How can any of these cities articulate graphically what they could bring to future Olympics hosting? What flavour will they bring to the games? Will you inspire Rome to see a bid through for once? The logos should be presented as full colour designs on white background. If you like, however, they can also be presented in black and white or utilised in forms like street banners, t-shirts, apps, vehicles, pins etc. For voting purposes, the main (colour) logo will be used on the polls, & extra stuff is not obligatory, but any extra material you produce may help you “sell” your design better to the wider GamesBids voting membership.  These logos are for the cities as they HOST the games. So you CAN use the rings, and don't need to include the words “Candidate City, Olympic Games 2040” or whatever the IOC want this week. While we're on that, the new IOC branding & logo guidelines DO NOT apply, because we don't know how they work in practice yet. And also because they're stupid. Please post your preliminary submissions on this thread. If you want to hold anything back to be presented as a “surprise” when voting starts you can contact me or Rols via PM and I'll tell you where you can send the extra material. However, it would be nice to see as many on-thread submissions as possible for people to chew over in-thread, & to try & make a worthy Olympic countdown. We can hope, right? You can submit logos for either or both cities. However, you cannot enter more than one logo for the same city (see below). So entering one logo for each is fine, but two logos for Singapore, say, is not fine. You are able, encouraged even, to enter both 'sides' of the comp. Feel free to post as many logo designs as you like, & to ask for feedback from our famously discerning electorate. If you really can't decide between your own designs for a city, feel free to start a poll (or to ask for one to be started). When the time comes for voting, however, you will be asked to settle on a maximum of ONLY ONE official logo per city as your official entry. The format depends on the numbers. Most likely, it will be the traditional exhausting exhaustive ballot preferred by the IOC, and the winter & summer 'halves' will be entirely separate, there will be two winners in the Olympic comp tradition. The competition is open to all members of GamesBids, or to any new legitimate members who join before the end of the submission period. I, with consultation, will rule on the legitimacy of new members. As you would expect, I will rule on any disputes - always aiming to be as fair as possible in the process. As always, just remember, this is all meant to be fun. Olympic spirit, remember?. Hopefully this will spark up some action on the board. I'll be dipping in, keeping a close eye on things, but otherwise will try and keep my green yoshi-paws off until the polling stages. The deadline for submissions is 1pm London time (that is, midnight in Sydney, as per tradition) on 31 JANUARY 2026. Thus, GB will begin 2026 with this, but the voting will coincide with Milan. Just one extra thing, due to the unusual existence of a massive 5-ringed deadline, there will be NO EXTENSIONS beyond perhaps the odd few hours on the 31st. With time of the essence, I will @ all the voters (yes all of you) in the next post. And this is just to alert @Rob. Rob to the existence of the new comp in the hope that he'll do his traditional bit of putting up links to various free design programs etc for the benefit of those who want to take part but may not have the facility at the moment - @Bear does that too -, and to alert @GBModerator Rob to the fact the comp is back! In addition, we had a member ask in the election thread about info on programs people use - I don't know that world (those who can't...) but I'd encourage anyone who does to share. All that is left to say is thank you Rols once again, and to all participants for having the guts to put your logos up for the annual GamesBids dissection, & may the best logos win - GOOD LUCK!

America's security apparatus is itself a threat to anyone attending these events. On security grounds alone there's a case for removal. It's clear anyone travelling to the '26 world cup or the '28 Olympics is doing so at their own risk and other governments should now be issuing travel advisories to this effect.

Given the Exhibition station will be ‘locked down’ during the Games, I can’t see how the can’t build a station at the stadium especially when the train line goes straight past the stadiums. It just makes sense. keep in mind it is approx a 17 minute walk to RNA - how about those in wheelchairs or who can’t walk long distances especially with a bumpy and hilly walk? Paris - 10 min walk Tokyo - 2 min walk London - 14 min walk For comparison though it may not be too bad

Image 1 above Image 2 above Image 3 above The above 3 most likely sites for the New Brisbane Olympic Stadium, from today's announcement The valley or gully that Richard Coulson mentions below is image 2 or the middle one. You can see that valley/gully i have marked in my image this page dated December 9 ............................................................................................................................................. COX Architecture chairman Richard Coulson said the site, in a valley between Gilchrist Avenue and QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus, was the best location for the stadium. “It’s a hilly site and we have to find a place to sort of flatten out a little bit,” he said. “When we made that analysis, we were able to look at the quantum of cut and fill and that did influence it, but it’s also about putting in the position to retain as much park as possible. “So the stadium is a component of the park but it’s not the whole opportunity and so there’s still opportunities around the park for game-day activation, for activities completely separate from the stadium itself.”

I do like the renderings. Very similar to Perth's Optus Stadium with the same designer

This one’s more in-line with the new IOC formats…

I had forgotten...!!!!! Now it's complete! WELCOME TO SANTIAGO! WELCOME TO THE SOUTH!

I have been walking around Victoria Park fortnightly for about 5 months now. For some exercise and also doing a people count to get an indication of how few people actually use the majority of this very hilly park. The walk covers all the park and takes me about 60 minutes. I did not count the people or cars in the commercial sections of the park as that is well utilized. Those being the golf driving range, Putt Putt, large casual restaurant and 3 function arears. Weekdays: The largest number was 38 the smallest being 5 last week. Weekends: Average about 85 ........................................................................................................................ Most posters would know that most of Victoria Park was undergoing various surveys including borehole drilling testing soil density, contamination etc etc. This started in October. I can confirm the testing was completed sometime between Friday 5/12/25 (still drilling on the Olympic pool side of VP) & Wednesday 24/12/25 (all equipment now gone from the site). Not sure how long the final report will take to be put together and forwarded to the relevant parties. Maybe it was sent before Christmas if not likely early January 2026 The separate company 3D topography survey will have been completed as it was on 21/11/25. This to me is the best indication of where the Government would like the stadium to be located as long as the other results are not a problem. See my notes below. ............................................................... **November 21st, 2025 -The 3D Laser Scanner. I spoke to one of the two guys monitoring the 3D Scanner. He was an Irish guy wearing my AFL teams Brisbane Lions cap. I had mine on, so it was easier to get him talking. He explained they have a job to supply a 3D version of the topography of just the two golf fairway sections which he pointed out to me. He showed me on his laptop what a raw version looks like from just one point. Pretty cool how it looks. They just move the scanning unit around to the next point and so on till they are finished. I assume they are then all put together to get one finished product along with a written report off to the relevant parties. Map below. Black Dash: The low point or gully Orange Dots: Trees marked with yellow tape by the Save Victoria Park people **Blue Squiggly Lines: Area indicated to me that's set down for topography 3D laser scan and report. Purple Dot: One topography 3D laser scanner location as of Thursday 21/11/25. Red Lines: The Cross River Rail temporary work sheds and car park. Has all been leveled now. (I think it was for CRR.) I finally worked out a way to get images onto this site. https://www.flickr.com/photos/1453664

Okay, here we go with my first entry: The logo is based on a kultrun, a drum and also a symbol of the infinite world, from the indigenous people of Chile, the Mapuche. The stars on the kultrun represent the Southern Cross, the most prominent and heralded constellation of the Southern Hemisphere night skies, marking the first winter games south of the equator. They also harken to the star on the Chilean national flag. The colours are pastel hues of the blue and red of the Chilean flag. I chose not to go with the IOCs new graphics rules - I want to see how they’re used in action first, and there is such a thing as too much Olympic rings. A little goes a long way.

Will no-one give out some last minute support to the mighty Trojena!!! City of the future, winter sports paradise, upcoming Asian Winter Games host, crown jewel of the mighty sports hosting powerhouse, the KSA! If nothing else, remember, this is a graphics comp, not a hosting comp. Think of the graphics opportunities offered by Trojena. SUPPORT TROJENA! All the way with the KSA!

If any Dem nominee talks of “healing” instead of promising to prosecute the whole gang to put them in prison, they can STFU.

Thanks @Rob2012 I really felt the need to post something yesterday. But the mainstream socials like Facebook were already descending into their usual muck pool of hatred’s and recriminations. Talk about not learning the lessons. And thank god for GamesBids. This really hit hard and close to home. I’ve always had a special bond to Bondi. When I was young, it was the closest beach to home and in summer my father would often take me and my sisters for a late afternoon swim in the sea there to cool off when we finished school and he finished work. When I was a teenager and student, I’d often spend long days there with friends or alone glowing up my tan. I’ve been caught in rips and got sunstroke there. In later years I preferred other beaches, but still at least once a year stop by for a late night gelato and a stroll along the sea edge. And, of course, the Olympics. Sydney’s beaches are its Crown Jewels, and Bondi is its centrepiece gem. My husband is a community health worker working in the eastern suburbs area, including Bondi, and many of his patients are elderly jews. He was trepiditious about visiting them yesterday considering his emotion, and theirs. I told him to make sure he gave each of them a big hug. He did.

This me, just over 25 years ago, at Bondi Beach with my now husband and a friend. Not far from the now infamous overpass. Yesterday was another one of those oh so magic days where Sydney feels like the best place on earth. It was idyllicly sunny, and hot. Holiday season is upon us and so many people were out enjoying the first blush of summer. I was one of them, going to the opening of a new Greenway cycling route and getting my first blush of sunburn of the season as I milled around with hundreds of families, kids and well wishers watching an aboriginal performance, welcome to country and smoking ceremony to inaugurate the route. Life was sweet… until just on dusk when the news started filtering through of the horrible events unfolding at Bondi. It was in utter disbelief I watched the updates unfolding and getting grimmer. I slept fitfully and badly, then woke early to survey the aftermath on the news feeds. I’ve been numb and finding it hard to get my thoughts together about the events. And then I read just a single snippet - that one of the victims was a holocaust survivor - and me and my partner broke down into tears. It’s a true national trauma for us here today. My heart is breaking for the victims and their loved ones. I’m going to have no patience with finger pointing and revenge hating.

i wish we could edit messages because I realize I came off as way too snarky in this reply so I do apologize @Karenina Anyways, we got a new view from inside the Santa Giulia arena construction zone:

What a pathetic prostitute Infantino is. He just can't help himself when it comes to kissing tyrants asses, isn't it. And god forbid you say anything cuz he'll probably pull the racist/imperialist card at you like that bizarre speech he did a couple of days before Qatar 2022 began. This guy is unironically making me miss Blatter, and that says a lot.

Had a rethink & decided to move to a new cycle. We might need to go back to 38 eventually if Switzerland actually passes its referendums

Fontana has just been booked as flagbearer in Milan so I guess she would pass this. As her other three fellows. Another big name left and not yet expressed is Enrico Fabris (Veneto) but I think he's too linked with the Torino Games. So I imagine it would be between Goggia (Lombardy), Kostner (South Tyrol) and Compagnoni (Bormio)? ..and there's also this guy https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/olympic-torch-relay/news/family-bruno-colli-cortina-1956-generations-milano-2026

I'm concerned about the usefulness of this expanded venue going forward. It doesn't get much love as it is, and there's only so many tennis tournaments that can be held around the world. This might have been the time to go "yeah we cant hold everything in Queensland, where could this be held", whether that be Melbourne (as was hinted) or somewhere else.

And, of course, the original Olympic cauldron still in place.

They will be on FTA. WBD will come to an agreement with a FTA channel to simulcast coverage

At least it opens up the possibility of people crowbarring the letters down in a couple of years and those pictures being beamed worldwide - the kind of symbolism the end of this wannabbe dictatorship deserves.

Thanks @Bear. Sorry that I have by chance in my previous post inadvertently found the same images of Santaguiliara Ice Hockey from ”Darren@Dreger/X” Apologies that I didnt realise you had already posted the same.

Update on Santaguiliara Ice Hockey Venue These screenshots from the Santaguiliara IcecHockey Venue in Milan are taken from a widely circulating video on instagram. Essentials seems to be all the there: roof, ice rink, spectator seats, lights. Guessing/hoping that the behind the scenes things such as electrical and cabling, athletes/official/media/VIP/volunteer facilities, hospitality equipment and fit-out, surrounding access roads, signage, landscaping, carparks, etc etc are all in place. Must also be very challenging and complex to install Olympic overlay, security perimeter/barriers/checkpoints, ticketing, spectator marshalling areas, temporary merchandise, additional food/beverage areas, of the Games”, etc etc while the venue itself is being assembled. Well, I’m guessing not much rest over the Christmas and New Year for workers on site. Fingers crossed for this Milano Cortina 2026 venue and hoping that the rescheduled test events at this venue proceed smoothly as planned on 9-11 January. Images Credit: from video on publicly available instagram account of ”Darren@Dreger/X”

Loved the Sydney 2000 Logos.

True, they used the bid logo also on that magic night in 1993 they won the bid in Monaco and lit up the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Credit: Wikipedia Credit: Youtube - the night Sydney won the Bid

Sydney used their bid emblem during the 1996 handover which was the Olympic Rings in the shape of the sails of the Harbour Bridge with 'SYDNEY 2000' at the bottom

As long as the heating works they look ok to me. It's not like a big city that needs housing. Temporary little cabins that can be taken down afterwards seems pretty sensible for the location. And they obviously haven't been furnished yet, so probably best to make a judgement on once everything's in.

The flame has just arrived in Sicily, on a path which will cross some of the most important ancient greek sites in southern Italy. Always special when this happens. 🔥🏛️ Here's a picture from the Selinunte site. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSUYf73iAgq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

we're not even paying for our own olympics why would we pay for a tokyo olympics

At least the reverse design will be created in Senegal

And we have a winner: Winning medal design revealed... and the winner is Spanish.

Not a single cell of decency in that decaying body. (no need to go through my last 5 years of social media now I guess)

Been trying to work out a post to respond to this, but I can't really. That level of hatred is beyond words. I hope we see many more post like this in this thread.... And, you know what, I'm quite certain we will. Stay Strong Sydney.

Qatar also never wanted to collect five years of social media, excessive work info and your DNA if you had plans to travel there though. https://bsky.app/profile/anneapplebaum.bsky.social/post/3m7s3fo2xw22c Good luck to anyone still wanting to go from abroad. US Tourism industry will be dead if this comes into force.

What a stupid thing to do by Wasserman, You can honour the victims of October 7 without heaping praise on the person that multiplied the suffering for both Palestinian civilians and the hostage families in the aftermath. But yeah, there won’t be a boycot over that alone.

And justifiably so 🤢

Those are some good, thoughtful assessments, @world atlas. Good food for thought. I agree with you the over-long lead times between host selection and the games is not the blessing many would have thought. And, yes, finding Winter hosts is the big problem, and likely to become a bigger problem as climate change heats up. It’s still an open question how Coventry will measure up. She’s still an enigma and hasn’t done anything at all to judge her by so far. But maybe that’s a good thing. I really wasn’t gunning for her because I thought she was Bach’s mini-me candidate. But perhaps her inaction so far shows that she may indeed be a reflective, consultative and collegial president, as opposed to Bach’s knee-jerk, ad-hoc, secretive and authoritarian presidency. There’s an EB meeting this week, so just maybe we’ll get some sign of her mettle. Otherwise we’ll be waiting into next year.

That's because it would be

A return to a competitive bid process is a must - games should never be awarded behind closed doors before rivals who have expressed interest in hosting even know the bidding was open. I think a dual games awarding is wise though - effectively had that for 2024/28 and 2030/34 and there are no real downsides to it.

^^for the 3rd or 4th time (and also for the joy of discussion ) what's so unreasonable about my previous statements? 1_ a woman lighting the cauldron. Well, their promotions so far have been clearly lady targeted. Logo, handover, Marianne and so many others feminine references to France in general. If they keep this way, well, I can see a lady athlete as the final torch bearer and it's not like they lack in that category. 2_ Football player lighting the cauldron. As mentioned before, not only they already did it but also considering their variety in different sports achievements -and French cultural approach to their celebrations- I think they might rather consider other disciplines not so all-the-time exposed but equally deserving the spot that night. Footbal already got so manies during the year + the great World Cup. And I bet even Milan's OC team would think twice before going with football star over their proud winter tradition. And it's not about hating football players. And if someone may feel offended or too sensitive about all above, remember it's just opinions. Decently argued, I think.