LAUSANNE — IOC President Kirsty Coventry announced that sports and medal events cut from the 2032 Brisbane Olympics will have a path to return in future Summer Games during a meeting in Lausanne. The International Olympic Committee aims to finalize within months the list of sports for Brisbane, which will be fewer than the 36 featured at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Coventry told representatives of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) that “I know that not everyone will be happy.” She added, “The goal is not to destroy any sport.” She assured members that “we don’t have specific numbers” as targets for the sports and events program for Brisbane, emphasizing flexibility in the selection process.

The IOC’s primary focus in shaping the Brisbane program is reducing the number of venues required, as venue proliferation drives up costs and complexity for host cities. “The cost and complexity comes when you start adding additional venues for single purpose events. That’s where we need to look and say: ‘How could we change that?’” Coventry said in a media appearance.

A June 24 meeting of the full IOC membership in Lausanne is expected to agree on a formal process for evaluating which sports and events will be included in Brisbane. A list of sports could be confirmed as early as December, though the detailed program of medal events may not be finalized until 2029. Brisbane is expected to host fewer than the 353 medal events scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028.

ASOIF president Ingmar de Vos acknowledged that “it has grown too much and needs to be brought back into proportion.” Some sports added to the Los Angeles program—including flag football, lacrosse, and squash—will now compete for inclusion in Brisbane before their debut in 2028. Others, such as modern pentathlon and canoe slalom, face uncertainty due to venue demands or historical vulnerability, though no final decisions have been made.