Australian Kiwi

Are you serious? Talk about high melodrama. When did I ever state that non-Olympic multisport events are worthless and have no purpose? I was talking specifically about the YOG and Olympic sports festivals - not events like the Asian Games or Pan Ams. Calling me "miserable and sad" for expressing an opinion is kind of extreme and mean.

We don't know what the Gabba rebuild or the Roma Street Aquatics Centre (Brisbane Live) will entail yet from a design POV. Brisbane Live requires construction atop of an active railway line - that in itself is an extremely difficult task and has huge potential risks. These, along with necessary transport upgrades to support a highly dispersed Games all contain potential for cost blowout. Plus inflation, and the inevitable economic shocks the Australian economy will encounter over the decade. Doesn't make Brisbane 2032 any less viable but I'd argue its a riskier proposition than Sydney 2000 which was subject to years of bid-stage planning and scrutiny followed up by a tight centralised plan (plus a significantly more developed suite of existing urban infrastructure to support it).

I would argue the long lead in time will create a scope-creep risk. Cindy Hook has admitted this as a challenge.

Love these perspectives. I think its a good time to think about it because the recent few years have all the hallmarks of those shifts that have ushered in change (for better or worse). Whats clear is that Barcelona 1992 was the start of a period which may have just ended. Perhaps Paris 2024 is a new beginning? I know LA can certainly match its pragmatism and "sweating existing assets", not yet convinced Brisbane will do the same though (as I've said elsewhere I think we are in for a long decade of cost blowouts on that one).

There is not contradiction on my part. The YOGs and Olympic Sports Festivals are not on par with the 'Main Event' (like the Olympic official suggested at hand - who implied Sarajevo would be hosting for a "third" time). My opinion is that they are Olympic branded PR exercises in search of meaning and purpose. My opinion remains! These two IOC run events cheapen and diminish the Summer and Winter Games proper. I don't really have a view on the Asian Games whatever as they're fairly standalone and have a clear meaning and purpose.

Please don't misinterpret and misrepresent my arguments from different threads.

All I've said is that these events are not on par with the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games - thats an objective fact. I wasn't doubting that in the moment they mean a lot to people that are there. For example, people enjoy school sports carnivals. But they are not the Olympics.

There is precedence - there is no protocol that demands the Head of State.

Is that the way the history could be evolving? We have... Pre-war Era - Athens 1896 to Stockholm 1912 (de Courboutin's time getting the event on its feet off the back of the World's Fair and Intercalated Games). Inter-war Era - Antwerp 1920 to Berlin 1936 (the era where the Games found its soul and traditions through Eurocentric nationalism and fascism) Post-war Era - London 1948 to Helsinki 1952 (Austerity and keeping the Games in safe and steady hands) Cold War Era - Melbourne 1956 to Seoul 1988 (possibly the most transformative era?... Boycotts, Gigantism, violence, Organisational woes, Television broadcasts, Debt, Profit, Doping) The Capitalist Era - Barcelona 1992 - Rio 2016 (the Internet, Olympic consumerism and sponsorships, ongoing gigantism, Olympics as a tool of urban regeneration and city brand making, hyper competitive and highly anticipated bidding processes) The Current Era - Tokyo 2020 onwards... (post pandemic, organisational woes, financial crisis, pandemic disruptions, austerity, loss of prestige, downturn in hosting interest, the 'New Norm'...) How would others cut the cake?

NZ media being jingoistic over the All Blacks, what a surprise. Still a way to go. England, South Africa and even France could very likely upset the ABs.

Yep! Thought so. Its an interesting thought though, his ego vs. the potential for that to happen. Could very well see the honour delegated to the Governor of CA.

Sheer numbers like that does'nt mean anything. Neither of those events even comes close to the impact of the 1984 Winter Olympics on global sport and Sarajevo's identity. If Sarajevo hosts the Winter Olympics again in the future they aren't going to claim its the first "four time Olympic host". Its just silly PR spin - YOG and "Olympic Sports Festivals" are worthless and are events in search of meaning and purpose.

If Trump gets re-elected in 2024, and accepted the opportunity to open the 2028 Olympics... how likely would a big Coliseum-wide Boooo be?

"Founder of the OKBIH, Ahmed Karabegović, told the gathering “Sarajevo is the only city in the Balkans whose citizens had the honor of welcoming the Olympic flame twice.” “The number of citizens present at the [European Youth Olympics Festival] opening ceremony speaks of the fact that the Olympic spirit is still present in this city, believing that the generations that will come after us will make an effort to once again host Sarajevo and its citizens and for the third time welcome the Olympic flame in their city.” Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984 when part of the former Yugoslavia. As capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the city staged the European Youth Olympics Festival (EYOF) in 2019." ____ The extent to which the Olympic brand has been diluted and cheapened under Bach and Rogge is sad. All these spin off festivals and events (including the YOG) now being put on equal footing with the 1984 Olympic Winter Games. I know this might seem minor but its diminishing the prestige of hosting the Olympics.

Thats a bit premature.