A breeding ground for champion athletes, Ipswich is offering the world the keys to its sporting success for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Ipswich City Council has released its team attraction brochure, City of Ipswich: Your Next High Performance Base, highlighting the city’s elite sporting facilities as pre-competition training and preparation bases for the world’s athletes, teams, coaches and administrators.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the city’s reputation for turning talented youngsters into world-class athletes is testament to the quality of its sporting facilities.
“The release of our City of Ipswich: Your Next High Performance Base brochure is a pivotal moment in Ipswich’s journey to the Games, ensuring our city and its sporting facilities leap off the page and into the global spotlight,” Mayor Harding said.
“Council is determined for Ipswich to secure legacy benefits from the global mega-event and this includes the economic and social uplift from attracting the world’s best athletes to our city, for competition or training.
“Whether it’s Ash Barty, Gout Gout, Eithen Leard or Mollie O’Callaghan, Ipswich’s proven track record of producing world-class athletes is a major source of pride for our residents.
“Now it’s time to share with the world one of the biggest factors in this success: our elite facilities.
“Top of this list is Brighton Homes Arena. Confirmed as a Games venue in the 2032 Delivery Plan, its oval outdoor field, 50m x 35m indoor field, state-of-the-art gymnasium and lap and recovery pools are among the features making it a top-tier training hub.
“It’s little wonder tenants Brisbane Lions are the back-to-back AFL champions, and the AFLW two-time champions and seven-time grand finalists.
“Council is delivering our new rectangular venue – the North Ipswich Sport and Entertainment Precinct – with construction to soon begin on a new $40 million western grandstand complete with multiple changerooms, media rooms and hospitality facilities.
“Other Ipswich venues that are ready to help ensure athletes achieve their peak performance include Redbank Plains Recreation Reserve Skate and Youth Area, Briggs Road Hockey Complex, Willey Street Park BMX Track, Hidden Vale Adventure Park and Brookwater Golf and Country Club.
“As a sports-loving city, the Games will be a one of the most exciting times in Ipswich history as the world’s greatest athletes descend on our corner of the world – and we’re ready to welcome them with open arms.”
Economic and Cultural Development Committee Chairperson Councillor Pye Augustine said the City of Ipswich: Your Next High Performance Base brochure is a milestone in the delivery of Leveraging 2032: Our Roadmap to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The brochure provides significant detail on the features and benefits of Ipswich’s sporting facilities, as well as our city’s proximity to Brisbane and other co-host cities, sports science, physiotherapy and strength and conditioning businesses and accommodation options,” Cr Augustine said.
“We will continue to work over the next six-and-a-half years to ensure Ipswich is an even more attractive place for pre-Games training, including by advocating with other levels of government to partner with council to deliver key legacy projects.
“This includes a new synthetic athletics track, with council continuing work to determine the most suitable site and an outcome of these investigations expected to be announced in early 2026.
“Council is also continuing to progress the Hotel and Short Term Accommodation Plan so that national and international sporting teams have more options to stay in Ipswich.
“Ensuring lasting benefits for Ipswich from the Games is among the top priorities for council and we continue to make progress in clinching city-shaping opportunities presented by this once-in-a-lifetime event.”
View the City of Ipswich: Your Next High Performance Base brochure here.