The 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has on Monday officially included five additional sports on the programme for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28). These five sports are cricket (T20), baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash.
A press release from IOC informed that the inclusion of these sports was proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee as a package for their edition of the Games only, and were reviewed and supported by the IOC’s Olympic Programme Commission (OPC) and Executive Board (EB).
Making the announcement, IOC President Thomas Bach stated, “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. Their inclusion will allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the US and globally.”
LA28 Chairperson Casey Wasserman remarked “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. 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.”
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IOC further informed that baseball and softball, cricket and lacrosse will be making a return to the Olympic Games, while flag football and squash will be making their Olympic debut in LA. Baseball and softball have been part of the programme at several editions of the Olympic Games, most recently at Tokyo 2020 while Cricket was on the programme for the Olympic Games Paris 1900 when England and France were the only teams. Lacrosse was included on the programme at St Louis 1904 and London 1908.
The press release also stated that the IOC Session supported the recommendations made by the IOC EB concerning the status of modern pentathlon and weightlifting, which were not part of the initial sports programme for LA28. It also said that following the IOC Session decision to withdraw recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA), the IOC has not recognised another governing body for Olympic boxing. Therefore, the IOC EB decided that any decision regarding the inclusion of boxing on the LA28 sports programme is put on hold, so there was no discussion of this by the IOC Session.
