Five sports added to Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympic schedule
Flag football and squash to make Olympic debut, other sports returning
Five sports were added to the programme for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles on Monday, after being approved at the 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee in Mumbai, India — baseball and softball, cricket, lacrosse, flag football and squash.
The LA28 Organising Committee proposed that these sports be added last week, which the Olympic Programme Commission and the IOC’s Executive Board then approved, before receiving the final green light on Monday.
Flag football and squash will be making their Olympic debuts in Los Angeles, with squash long proposed but never competed at the Summer Olympics. Cricket will make its return at long last after only previously being part of the Paris 1900 Olympics, while lacrosse is back after being on the programme at St Louis 1904 and London 1908. Baseball and softball have been competed multiple times, most recently at Tokyo 2020 — but were removed for Paris 2024.
Canada is the most successful nation in Olympic lacrosse, winning gold in both St Louis and London, as well as the bronze in 1904 as well. Team Canada’s lone softball medal came at Tokyo 2020 — a bronze after beating Mexico in the third place game.
Several iconic stadiums are set to host events as the Olympics looks to increasingly use existing venues, including Dodger Stadium for baseball, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for athletics, and the Rose Bowl for soccer.
“The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the Olympic Games LA28 unique,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a press release. “Their inclusion will allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the US and globally.”
“I have long believed that we have an incredible opportunity in Los Angeles to create the most compelling Games, not just for us, but for the world,” added LA28 Chairperson Casey Wasserman. “Our Olympic sport programme, in its entirety, reflects this belief. We are excited to embark on game-changing collaborations with major professional leagues that will unlock massive opportunities to amplify the Olympic and Paralympic story and captivate new audiences.”
The IOC also confirmed that modern pentathlon and weightlifting will return to the Olympics in 2028 after initially not being included on the programme. Breaking, however, which will make its debut in Paris next summer, will not return in 2028.
Modern pentathlon — which sees athletes compete in fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running — will be updated to replace the equestrian portion of the event with obstacle racing. The IOC said that the decision comes from the International Modern Pentathlon Union’s desire to reduce costs and complexity for athletes, while the sport has also faced criticism for being unpopular and needing to attract more (especially younger) viewers.
Weightlifting’s future was in doubt after years of doping issues, with the IOC announcing on Monday that the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will delegate its anti-doping management to the International Testing Agency (ITA), and its sanctioning to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at least until the end of 2028 — a period covering both the Paris and Los Angeles Olympics.
As for boxing, “any decision regarding the inclusion of boxing on the LA28 sports programme is put on hold,” according to the IOC, as they have not recognised another governing body for Olympic boxing. The need to do so comes after the IOC withdrew recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA) in June for concerns with the organization’s finances and governance, as well as the credibility of boxing competitions.
Rival organization World Boxing, born out of the feud between the IOC and IBA, has thus far failed to earn recognition from the IOC.
The 2028 Summer Olympics will run from Friday, July 14 to Sunday, July 30, 2028.
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