BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Sailing the Whitsunday islands. Surfing an iconic Gold Coast break. Rowing in a crocodile-inhabited river in Rockhampton.
Extra tourism-focused venues and a new 60,000-seat Olympic stadium to be built in inner-city parkland have been unveiled as part of a major overhaul of planning for the 2032 Brisbane Games.
David Crisafulli, the third premier of Queensland state in the almost four years since the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2032 Games to the capital of Queensland state, announced the latest plans on a rainy Tuesday.
He said it’s not going to be like last year’s Paris Olympics or the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, promising instead it'll be uniquely-Queensland.
It’s been more than 1,340 days since that IOC decision in 2021, and local organizers still haven’t started the Olympic venue construction program.
“The time has come to just get on with it — get on with it, and build,” Crisafulli said, marking his 150th day in office. “We are going to start immediately. We’ve got seven years to make it work — and make it work we will.”
A 25,000-seat aquatics center has also been proposed in an Olympic precinct that includes the new main stadium at Victoria Park, a former golf course near downtown Brisbane.
The 11 years that Brisbane had to prepare is now down to seven, and leaders at federal, state and local levels agree it’s time to stop squabbling over venues and start building them.
Newly elected IOC president Kirsty Coventry, who oversaw the initial planning stages as head of the IOC’s coordination commission, has been updated on the changes by Andrew Liveris, chairman of the 2032 organizing committee.
“The stage matters,” Liveris said. “We’ve still got 7½ years to go, and we have a plan. This is a go-get-it-done plan.”
Brisbane was the first Summer Games host picked in a new process to put a preferred candidate into exclusive, fast-track talks without facing a rival bidder in a vote. With it, the IOC aimed to cut the cost of campaigning and building venues.
Domestic media earlier this week raised concerns about crocodiles at the Olympic rowing venue when it emerged that events would be staged on the Fitzroy River.
Crisafulli confirmed the Fitzroy River venue at Rockhampton, on the central Queensland coast, and said a “multitude” of events had been staged there — including Australia’s pre-Olympic rowing camps. He said local kids swam and paddled in the river and crocodiles wouldn’t be a problem.
Sarah Cook, the head of Rowing Australia, said the crocodile concerns were overblown in the media. But she raised some issues about the river current and its suitability for Olympic competition.
Liveris, who said World Rowing would visit the venue in May, also wasn’t worried about crocs.
“There are sharks in the ocean and we still do surfing ... this is can do, not can’t do, please flip the mindset here,” he said. “Creatures below the water .. that’s a bit kind of Hollywood-ish.”
It’s been a year since local organizers scrapped initial plans to demolish and rebuild the Gabba, an iconic cricket ground, as the Games centerpiece when a previous review panel appointed in 2023 recommended a new stadium in city parkland.
The costs soared and the concept lost the support of the Australian Olympic Committee.
The premier at the time, Steven Miles, rejected the recommendations of that review led by former Brisbane Mayor Graham Quirk. Miles instead planned to use a rugby stadium to host the ceremonies, and to renovate the aging facility built to host the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
Crisafulli went to a state election late last year promising no new stadiums, but then instituted another independent review quickly after taking power for the Liberal-National coalition. His cabinet went through the recommendations of the 100-day review and approved new plans Monday.
A group of protesters gathered outside the riverside location where Crisafulli confirmed the revised venue plan. Dozens more protestors converged on Victoria Park, holding up “Hands OFF Victoria Park” signs and shouting “shame” while listening to news of the announcement.
The Save Victoria Park community group is fundraising for a legal challenge in a bid to prevent the stadium being built in the hilly, 64-hectare (158-acre) park.
Brisbane organizers plan to host Olympic sports in coastal cities and sites from the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coasts in the south to Cairns in Queensland’s far north and to the gateway of the Outback at Toowoomba, where an equestrian hub will be built.
The state and federal governments initially agreed a 50-50 funding split on a venue budget of just over 7 billion Australian dollars ($4.4 billion).
The bulk of federal money was for an indoor arena adjacent to the city center that was initially set to host Olympic aquatics in a drop-in pool and later be transformed to host the National Basketball League and concerts.
That project has been scrapped, with Crisafulli’s government aiming to spread the federal funding around other venues and seeking private-sector funding to build a similar arena on state-owned land near the Gabba, outside the scope of the Olympics.
Under the new plan, the Gabba is set to be demolished after the 2032 Games and replaced with housing. The main existing tenants — the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League and Queensland Cricket — have endorsed the plan to relocate them to the Victoria Park stadium that will have a post-Olympic and Paralympic capacity of 63,000.
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This photo shows the entrance to Victoria Park, where a new 60,000-seat stadium will be built for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Australia Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/John Pye)
Kirsty Coventry speaks during a press conference after she was elected as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Road teams went 2-0 on Monday. Home teams went 3-0 on Tuesday.
Day 4 of the NBA playoffs on Tuesday brought a clean sweep for teams at home — Indiana beat Milwaukee for a 2-0 series lead despite Damian Lillard returning to the Bucks' lineup, Oklahoma City defeated Memphis for a 2-0 series lead and the Los Angeles Lakers knotted their series with Minnesota at a game apiece.
There are three games on Wednesday, the scenario the same as Tuesday — two home teams seeking 2-0 leads, the other home team trying to get a split. Cleveland takes its shot at a 2-0 lead when it plays host to Miami, Boston looks to go up 2-0 when it plays host to Orlando and Houston will aim for a split when it plays host to Golden State.
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Orlando at Boston (TNT/truTV)
7:30 p.m. — Miami at Cleveland (NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — Golden State at Houston (TNT/truTV)
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — New York at Detroit (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
10 p.m. — Denver at LA Clippers (NBA TV)
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Boston at Orlando (ESPN)
8 p.m. — Indiana at Milwaukee (ESPNU, NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — LA Lakers at Minnesota (ESPN)
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+500), Golden State (+1400), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1500), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2000), New York (+4000), Minnesota (+5000) and Indiana (+5500).
The Pacers' odds moved significantly after they took the 2-0 lead on the Bucks.
From there, it's Denver (+6600), Houston (+12500), Milwaukee (+30000), Detroit (+35000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +100000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is favored (-400) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston. The Warriors entered that matchup favored, and Sunday's win moved those odds even more.
The Clippers also are a lower seed favored to advance; they're at -175 in the 4-5 matchup with Denver. The Lakers were underdogs in their series after losing Game 1; they moved barely back into the favorite role (-120) after winning Game 2 against Minnesota.
The first of the major NBA awards was announced Tuesday, when Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
On Wednesday, the clutch player of the year (Jalen Brunson of New York, Anthony Edwards of Minnesota or Nikola Jokic of Denver) will be announced at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
And on Thursday, the defensive player of the year (Dyson Daniels of Atlanta, Draymond Green of Golden State or Evan Mobley of Cleveland) will be announced in another 6:30 p.m. TNT broadcast.
The hustle award winner will be revealed Friday at 2 p.m.
April 26 — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
— Preview of Wednesday's games: Cavaliers-Heat, Celtics-Magic, Rockets-Warriors
— Best ratings for an opening playoff weekend in 25 years, NBA says
— Mavs GM Nico Harrison didn't know how beloved Luka Doncic was in Dallas
— The NBA finalists for seven awards are released
— The playoffs could be wide-open. Again
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award
—It's very early. Sample size matters, and it is way too early to draw any conclusions — but it is worth noting that scoring so far is down 9.2 points per game in the playoffs from what was the norm in the regular season. The last time a playoff season saw that sort of differential between regular-season and postseason scoring was 1957, when there was a 9.8-point difference.
—The Thunder outscored the Grizzlies by 70 points in Games 1 and 2 of their Western Conference series. That’s the second-biggest combined margin for the first two games of a series in NBA history: the Lakers beat San Antonio by a combined 75 points in Games 1 and 2 of their 1986 first-round series.
—Luka Doncic got his ninth assist with about a minute left in the third quarter of the Lakers' win over Minnesota. He had 28 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists at that point — but, surprisingly, didn't get the triple-double. He played nine minutes in the fourth quarter with no assists. It was his fourth time this season playing at least nine fourth-quarter minutes and not getting an assist, with two of those against the Timberwolves.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren dunks during the second half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) celebrates after a basket against the Milwaukee Bucks during the second half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) goes to the basket against Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) and forward Jaden McDaniels (3) during the second half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff in Los Angeles, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Memphis Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo looks up during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown leaves the court after defeating the Orlando Magic in game 1 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome (2) celebrates in front of teammate Sam Merrill in the second half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) dunks during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns hugs his dad, Karl Towns, Sr., following Game 1 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Indiana Pacers' Andrew Nembhard (2) celebrates after making a 3-point basket during the first half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray gestures to the crowd after hitting a 3-point basket against the Los Angeles Clippers in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Alex Rodriguez, co-owner, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, claps during the second half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series Los Angeles Lakers, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves, left, and forward LeBron James celebrate at the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets Friday, April 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Fans react as Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after making a 3-point basket during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) fights for the ball in overtime of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic sits on the bench looking up at a video that was played in the arena as a tribute to the former Mavericks player before an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
