Thinking Space: four arguments for the 'fixing' of the Olympics in the Anthropocene

• Published in: Australian geographer 2024-07, Vol.55 (3), p.297-307
• Main Authors: Ashford, Theresa, Smith, Naomi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: affectivities; Anthropocene; Courts; Games; Imagination; mega-events; Music; Olympic games; Olympics; Rites & ceremonies; spectacle; sport
• ISSN: 0004-9182; 1465-3311
• DOI: 10.1080/00049182.2024.2389597

It is impossible not to be affected at some level when watching, even just the highlights, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The endorphin-pumping procession enrolled multiple music cultures, spectacular and theatrical light shows, and played to Paris's sardonic historical relations and geographical strengths while generating a 'spectacle' that would be hard to match or forget (even if we wanted to). This truly was a city that gave itself up and delivered a spicy 'full-court press' for the Olympic imagination. However, closer to home, in the wake of the emerging controversies with the development cycle for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics and the cancellation of the 2026 Summer Commonwealth Games by the Victorian government due to projected cost overruns, we feel that more conversation should be occurring around what the Olympic model should be into the future. We offer four propositions or thinking points that are not necessarily new, but collectively suggest, a re-visioning in light of the realities of the poly crisis that looms. The propositions circle around a shift towards a fixed site for the Games.