Queensland Premier Anna Bligh tweets "We did it ... we got back up again and we won the 2018 Commonwealth Games," confirming reports that the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has chosen Gold Coast on Saturday as the official venue for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The decision over the weekend defeated the spirited campaign of Sri Lanka to win the nod of Federation officials to award the honours of hosting the games to one of its key cities, Hambantota, which in 2004 was gravely devastated by the South Asian tsunami that obliterated coastal towns and killed hundreds of thousands in the process.

Queensland itself, where Gold Coast is located southeast of the state, saw its share of disaster last year as heavy downpours that lasted into the early months of 2011 engulfed much of the region, including its capital Brisbane.

Yet CGF President Michael Fennel declared that Gold Coast had launched "fantastic bid and they are a very, very worthy winner," in announcing the 43-27 vote that favours one of Australia's premiere tourism destinations.

"Hambantota was also a very strong bid, and we have a duty to take the Games to new places, but the bid needs to be the right thing for the Commonwealth Games movement at the right time," Fennel was reported as saying by Agence France Presse (AFP) during the weekend decision made known at the island nation of St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean.

On her part, Bligh admitted that Gold Coast fought a close competition with the Sri Lankan city as she conceded that "the vote reflected that this was a very close contest."

"Twenty-seven countries in the Commonwealth believed Hambantota was the best bid and I think that's a great credit to them," the Queensland Premier was quoted by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as saying on Saturday.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse graciously accepted defeat and mused that despite the outcome, his county's athletes should view the episode "as an added encouragement to go to Gold Coast and do very well."

In Hawaii, Prime Minister Julia Gillard hailed the news as a golden opportunity for Gold Coast to further thrive economically as she beamed with pride in declaring that "all Australia will be looking forward to hosting the Commonwealth Games."

Famed for its stretches of beach and outdoor-attuned weather, Gold Coast is set to welcome athletes from 71 participating Commonwealth nations in a sports spectacle that Queensland officials hope would translate into tourism revenues for the state.