We are just days away from the closing ceremony of the 2024 Olympics and sport fans are looking forward to the next one.
The competition will end on August 11 with a closing ceremony that evening.
Breakdancing made its Olympics debut this year, while surfing made its second Olympics appearance. Skateboarding and climbing also returned.
But more changes are slated for the next Olympics in four years’ time, which has been confirmed to be taking place in Los Angeles.
It was revealed in 2023 that the number of sports at the 2028 Olympic Games will expand to take in cricket and squash, and modern pentathlon will be included., It had been under consideration for being dropped from the Games.
Non-contact American football and lacrosse have also been added for 2028. The International Olympic Committee executive board in Mumbai in October 2023 confirmed the non-core sports of weightlifting and modern pentathlon would make the cut for LA28.
At a prior meeting, the new sports had been put forward as well as a proposal to trim the games of modern pentathlon, following difficulties at Tokyo 2020 involving the use of horses as part of the equestrian discipline. Modern pentathletes had only a limited time to become acquainted with horses before a show-jumping round that led to the horses sometimes refusing jumps. This event has since been replaced with obstacle-course racing, based on the TV series Ninja Warrior.
LA28 chairperson Casey Wasserman said: “The proposed sports ignite the imagination on the field of play. They’re relevant, innovative and community-based, played in backyards, schoolyards, community centres, stadiums and parks across the US and the globe.”
Here is what we know so far.
Where are the 2028 Olympics being held?
The Olympics are every four years and the next one in 2028 is being held in the US in Los Angeles. And already some details have been released.
Without working on any major construction efforts, the IOC announced the swimming events will take place in SoFi Stadium – which is better known for hosting NFL athletes than swimmers.
The Inglewood home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers will be modified to hold 38,000 spectators for the swimming events, down from the usual 70,000 for football and up to 100,000 for concerts.
It will make it the largest swimming venue in Olympic history.
Another major surprise involved a second host city for the LA Games. Citing a lack of adequate venues in southern California, the softball and canoe slalom events will reportedly take place more than 1,000 miles away in Oklahoma City.
Plans for the opening and closing ceremonies remain unchanged, with parts of both taking place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium.
How do sports get selected for the Olympics?
The International Olympic Committee has a core number of 28 sports that are contested at the Games, with athletics, gymnastics and swimming among them.
Six sports can be added and federations can put forward a bid. Committee members will then decide which sports to add or leave out of future programmes.
Sports can be upgraded from bidding sports to core sports as well as being dropped. Recently added core sports include sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing.
The IOC rules say that a single Games cannot have more than 10,500 athletes.
Which sports have been added?
Sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing have been upgraded to core sports, meaning they will be featured in games to come. All three debuted at Tokyo 2020.
In addition, the IOC advertised for new sports to be included. In August 2022, nine sports were put forward. Those selected provisionally were cricket, flag football and lacrosse, none of which was at Tokyo 2020, as well as baseball/softball, which was.
Those to bid but miss out were motor racing, break dancing, karate and kickboxing.
Which sports have been taken out?
The core sport to have been dropped is boxing but earlier proposals to drop weightlifting and modern pentathlon have been overturned at the IOC meeting.
Boxing has faced organisational issues, weightlifting has been embroiled in doping scandals, and modern pentathlon is undergoing structural changes, with the equestrian element creating problems in Tokyo 2020 and leading to it being replaced with obstacle-course racing.
Boxing is likely to bid to return in 2032.
Breakdancing made its debut in 2024 but will be gone for 2028. Karate, which featured in 2020, is also gone.
Which sports will be included in the LA 2028 Olympics?
The programme is yet to be confirmed, but assuming all paperwork is signed off, the sports for LA 2028 will be:
- Aquatics: Artistic swimming (two gold medals to be won) Diving (8), Swimming (37), Water polo (2)
- Archery (5)
- Athletics (48)
- Badminton (5)
- Baseball and softball (2)
- Basketball (2) and 3x3 basketball (2)
- Canoeing slalom (6) canoeing sprint (10)
- Cricket (2)
- Cycling: BMX freestyle (2), BMX racing (2), Mountain biking (2), Road (4), Track (12)
- Equestrian: Dressage (2), Eventing (2), Jumping (2),
- Fencing (12)
- Field hockey (2)
- Flag football (2)
- Football (2)
- Golf (2)
- Gymnastics: Artistic (14), Rhythmic (2), Trampoline (2)
- Handball (2)
- Judo (15)
- Lacrosse (2)
- Modern pentathlon (2)
- Rowing (14)
- Rugby sevens (2)
- Sailing (10)
- Shooting (15)
- Skateboarding (4)
- Sport climbing (4)
- Squash (5)
- Surfing (2)
- Table tennis (5)
- Taekwondo (8)
- Tennis (5)
- Triathlon (3)
- Volleyball: Volleyball (indoor) (2), Beach volleyball (2)
- Weightlifting (10)
- Wrestling: Freestyle (12), Greco-Roman (6)
