‘A toothpick?’ Brisbane 2032 emblems design riddle deepens with new piece
Day four of the Brisbane 2032 Games logo reveal has added another piece, but those following along at home might be frustrated to see yet another squiggle.
Paralympic swimmer Alexa Leary and beach volleyball Olympic gold medallist Nat Cook revealed the fourth piece of the emblems – for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games – at Wild Horse Mountain Lookout on the Sunshine Coast.
The magenta and gold piece could be interpreted as a leaf, a sun ray, a petal – or a toothpick, according to Leary and Cook.
Leary said she couldn’t wait to see the finished product, but admitted Friday’s piece didn’t narrow down the options before the design’s full reveal on Monday morning.
The third piece, a gold and magenta almost-sphere, was revealed by retired track cyclist and Paris Chef de Mission Anna Meares and Paralympian wheelchair sprints athlete Angie Ballard on Thursday in Rockhampton’s Riverside Park.
The first two pieces were similar but slightly different squiggles, revealed by swimmers Ian Thorpe and Grant “Scooter” Patterson in Cairns on Tuesday. Then NRL legends Johnathan Thurston and Sam Thaiday unveiled another in Townsville a day later.
The multi-day rollout of emblems is stretching down the Queensland coast, landing on the Gold Coast on Saturday followed by a final piece in Brisbane on Sunday. How all six elements come together will be revealed on Monday.
The spectrum of theories has spread far and wide, from flames and the sun to native flora and fauna.
There was even a suggestion from the press pack on Thursday that it could be the endangered Fitzroy River turtle, known as the bum breathing turtle.
Looking back at the 16 Games emblems used this century, the most common motifs are people, landmarks and cultural aspects of the host city.
Seven different Games emblems included a significant cultural aspect from the host city, such as Sydney 2000’s boomerang, Vancouver 2010’s inukuk stone figures, Beijing 2008 and 2022’s use of Chinese calligraphy and characters, and PyeongChang 2018’s use of the Korean alphabet.
Six Games emblems featured people and five featured natural or man-made landmarks. Only two used weather motifs, while Athens 2004 alone used a botanical element (the olive branch) and Paris 2024 alone used the Olympic flame and medal.
London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Los Angeles 2028 used none of these motifs, instead going for stylised fonts of the year or host city.
The Sunshine Coast Stadium will be upgraded and has been earmarked for football preliminary matches, and the Sunshine Coast Mountain Bike Centre is being renovated. An indoor sports centre was proposed then scrapped.
The Sunshine Coast Mountain Bike Centre will also be renovated, and a temporary facility for road cycling, marathon, race walks, kiteboarding, paralympic road cycling and marathon is proposed at Alexandra Headland.
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