Pressure is mounting on Queensland Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk to refrain from attending the Tokyo Olympics despite Brisbane being in the hot seat for the 2032 Games. 

It comes as the state still grapples with lockdowns and the pandemic amongst a slow vaccine rollout, with Tokyo recording 342 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.

A change.org petition has so far garnered 34,473 signatures and cites Australians stranded overseas as one of the reasons the Premier should remain in the country.

Five time Olympian Natalie Cook says the Premier should still go.

“I would feel like it would be a disappointment if she wasn’t (at Tokyo),” she told Bill McDonald on 4BC Drive.

“She’s done a lot of work at the front end, along with the mayor and the Prime Minister and the Australian Olympic Committee and all of her government to win this.

“This is her gold medal moment, and it would be very sad if she wasn’t able to stand there and collect it”.

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