Written By Cody Hatfield
October 16th, 2023
With the 2024 Summer Olympics hosted by Paris, France, less than a year away, I want to skip ahead and look at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. What’s so special about LA28? Well, on Monday in Mumbai at the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session, it was announced that five new sports were added to the Olympic program: Flag Football, Baseball/Softball, Cricket, Lacrosse, and Squash. This is the first time that Flag Football and Squash will be in an Olympic game. Cricket was included in the Paris Olympics in 1900, and Lacrosse was in the 1904 St. Louis games. Baseball and Softball have been in multiple Olympics, most recently in 2021 for the 2020 Tokyo games.
“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,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
Flag football is officially an Olympic sport. The NFL has been trying to expand American football internationally for the better part of two decades, having games played in London every year, and even branching out to Germany in 2022 and Mexico in the same year. The addition of flag football to the Olympic program is another step forward to expand the reach and fandom of American football.
Baseball/softball has been known as America's pastime for over 100 years. So, it only makes sense that it would be on the Olympic program. The last time baseball/softball was a part of the Olympics was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 because of COVID-19. Japan took home both gold medals for baseball and softball, while the U.S. took home silver. Watch out, Japan. The U.S. might hit bombs the next time we meet internationally.
Cricket was introduced to the Olympics over 120 years ago in 1900. Cricket is a wildly popular sport around the globe but struggled to catch on in the U.S. until early this year with the start of the inaugural season of Major League Cricket – a competition focused on the shorter format of the game.
Lacrosse has been added back to the Olympic program for the first time since 1904. Specifically, Lacrosse Sixes, which is an incredibly fast-paced, compact version of lacrosse, combining the most exciting elements of the more traditional disciplines. 'Sixes' has been rapidly growing worldwide since 2021.
Lastly, squash was added. Squash, like flag football, has never been included in the Olympic Games before. This momentous decision provides squash’s world-class athletes the opportunity to compete on the biggest sporting stage in the world, with two medal events – men’s and women’s singles competitions.
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are only five years away. I know a lot of fans are happy today seeing their favorite pastimes included in the Olympics. For even more details, visit https://la28.org, the official website of the 2028 Summer Olympics.