Media release courtesy of Queensland Government

Premier and Minister for the Olympics Annastacia Palaszczuk has fired the starter’s gun in the race for medals in the home-grown 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Premier opened a new gym and sports science lab at the Queensland Academy of Sport where Queensland’s elite athletes will train to compete in 2032.

She also welcomed 11 new coaches with expertise in summer, winter and Olympic and Paralympic Sports.

“It starts now,” the Premier said.

“Part of the reason to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is to provide the children of today the opportunity to compete in an Olympic and Paralympic Games on home soil.

“This is for those children swimming extra laps and running an extra lap on the school oval.

“We want them to aspire to come to the Queensland Academy of Sport and achieve their best.”

Queensland’s status as a breeding ground for champions has been demonstrated most recently at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Jakara Anthony, from tropical Cairns, won gold in the women’s freestyle skiing.

Jacklyn Narracott won silver in Skeleton bobsleigh, the first sliding sport medal for an Australian in Olympic history.

The Premier said 10 years is both a long time and no time at all

“Queensland’s golden decade of elite sport and economic opportunity is already out of the starting blocks.

“We’re not wasting a moment of the transformational decade before us and have doubled our investment in the QAS to $29.3 million to hit the ground running. “

QAS has identified nine female coaches out of the 11 to develop their skills through the new 2032 Elite Coach Scholarship Program.

The 11 coaches selected for the program will be mentored by top Queensland and international coaches with a track record of inspiring athletes to medal-winning performances.

One coach will focus exclusively on Para-Swimming with nearly a quarter of the Australian Paralympic Team competing in Tokyo last year made up of Queenslanders.

Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the recruitment of another 10 coach scholars would start in July.

“The Palaszczuk Government has also invested almost $10 million in new sports science infrastructure to help coaches and athletes go for gold,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“We’ve built a new gym with double the footprint of the old facility and included accessible equipment for Paralympic wheelchair users.

“There are new health suites for ultrasounds, physio and tailored nutrition programs, plus and a state-of-the-art sport science lab.

“Brimming with tech, the lab has a 48-metre mondo running track with force plates to measure technique and performance, as well a heat and altitude chamber to acclimatise athletes for interstate and international competition.

“We know the new gym and sports science lab space will be attractive to national high-performance programs eager to have a Queensland base in the lead up to 2032 Games.

“This is a one-stop-shop for helping Queensland athletes to train, recover and be podium-ready on the world stage.

“The new facilities and coaches lay the groundwork for elite Queensland athletes to accelerate their dominance in Paris, Los Angeles and the Brisbane 2032 Games.”

More than 400 tradies’ jobs were supported during the construction of the gym, health suites and science lab.

Dual Olympian and 2032 Coach Scholar Tom Fraser-Holmes said the scholarship was an incredible opportunity.

“I have always had aspirations to be an elite coach,” said Mr Holmes.

“To be in an environment working with one of the world’s most prolific medal winning coaches in Michael Bohl OAM is a privilege and absolutely fantastic.

“The 2032 Coach Scholarship Program is giving me the tools I need to be my best self and coach, building towards Brisbane 2032.”

AIS Acting CEO Matti Clements said the 2032 Coach Scholarship Program was a steppingstone in Australia’s bid to become a world leader in coach development.

“Coach development is critical to athlete success, which is why the AIS launched the National High-Performance Coach Development Taskforce in 2020,” said Ms Clements.

“We are now rolling out a national strategy and it is great we can pilot this in Queensland.”

The 2032 Coach Scholarship Program is integral to the high-performance focus of the QAS – Inspiring Extraordinary Sporting Success.