The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28, is an upcoming international
multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to 30, 2028, in
Los Angeles,
California,
United States.[2]
Los Angeles had originally
bid for the
2024 Summer Olympics. However, after multiple withdrawals that left only Los Angeles and
Paris in contention, the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a process to concurrently award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics to the two remaining candidates; Paris displayed a preference for the 2024 Games, and Los Angeles agreed to host 2028. The process was ratified during the
131st IOC Session on September 13, 2017. They will mark the fifth Summer Olympics (after
Atlanta 1996), and ninth Olympics overall, to be hosted by the United States. Having previously hosted the Summer Olympics in
1932 and
1984, Los Angeles will become the third three-time host city after
London (
1908,
1948,
2012) and
Paris (
1900,
1924,
2024).
After debuting in
2020 as optional events,
skateboarding,
sport climbing, and
surfing have been promoted to the Summer Olympics' "core" event programme.
Boxing,
modern pentathlon, and
weightlifting had been provisionally removed due to governance issues; modern pentathlon and weightlifting were reinstated following reform efforts, with the modern pentathlon expected to employ a new format replacing
show jumping with
obstacle course racing. The Games will feature the debut of
flag football and
squash as optional events proposed by the organizing committee, joined by the return of
baseball/
softball,
cricket (for the first time since 1900) and
lacrosse (for the first time since 1908).
On September 16, 2015, the International Olympic Committee announced the candidature process and the five candidate cities for the 2024 Games:
Budapest,
Hamburg, Los Angeles, Paris, and
Rome.[3] Budapest, Hamburg, and Rome eventually withdrew, leaving only Los Angeles and Paris.[4] A similar situation had already occurred during the
bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics when
Kraków,
Lviv,
Oslo, and
Stockholm withdrew, resulting in a two-way decision between
Beijing, China, and
Almaty, Kazakhstan, with Beijing ultimately declared the winner. On April 3, 2017, at the IOC convention in Denmark, Olympic officials met with bid committees from Los Angeles and Paris to discuss the possibility of naming two winners in the competition to host the 2024 Summer Games.
After these withdrawals, the IOC Executive Board met in
Lausanne, Switzerland, on June 9, 2017, to discuss the 2024 and 2028 bid processes.[5] The IOC formally proposed electing the 2024 and 2028 host cities at the same time in 2017, a proposal that an Extraordinary IOC Session approved on July 11, 2017, in Lausanne. The IOC set up a process where the Los Angeles and Paris 2024 bid committees and the IOC held meetings in July 2017 to decide which city would host in each of the two years.[6]
Following the decision to award the 2024 and 2028 Games simultaneously, Paris was understood to be preferred for the 2024 Games. On July 31, 2017, the IOC announced Los Angeles as the sole candidate for 2028, with $1.8 billion of additional funding from the IOC,[7] allowing Paris to be confirmed as the host for 2024. On August 11, 2017,
Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to approve the bid.[8] On September 11, 2017, Los Angeles received formal approval from the IOC's evaluation commission.[9] On September 13, 2017, Los Angeles was formally awarded the 2028 Games following a unanimous vote by the IOC.[10] The IOC praised the LA bid for using a record-breaking number of existing and temporary facilities and for relying entirely on corporate funding.[11][12]
On October 16, 2017, Los Angeles 2028 received official support from the state of
California.[13] On August 29, 2018, Olympic officials arrived for a two-day visit that included meetings with local organizers and a tour of the city's newest venues.[14] At the time,
LMU and LA Times polls suggested that more than 88% of
Angelenos were in favor of the city hosting the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.[15] In March 2023, however, a poll conducted by Suffolk University and the LA Times indicated a decrease in approval of the Olympic Games since Los Angeles won the Olympic bid, with only 57% of Angelenos believing the Olympics will be good for the city.[16]
The Coliseum underwent a major renovation and restoration program from 2017 to 2019.[23] A new press box,
loge boxes, and club seats were installed.[24] This reduced stadium capacity from 93,607 to 78,467.[25]Crypto.com Arena is also undergoing renovations which will be completed by 2024.[26] The
Los Angeles Clippers broke ground on a new arena in
Inglewood—
Intuit Dome—in 2021, which is expected to be completed in time for the
2024–25 NBA season; in January 2024, it was announced that the arena would also host basketball during the Games.[27]
Owing to its historical significance, the Los Angeles organizing committee proposed a format for the opening and closing ceremonies that would involve both the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium; it proposed that the opening ceremony open with a segment at the Coliseum that would launch the final leg of the torch relay, and the remainder of the ceremony being
simulcast from SoFi Stadium. The closing ceremony would conversely take place at the Coliseum, but with an opening segment at SoFi Stadium.[30]
Night view of
Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as Staples Center)
Transportation
The
Twenty-eight by '28 initiative is an effort by then-
MayorEric Garcetti that the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority complete 28 transit infrastructure projects before the start of the Games.[31] Most of these projects were already in the planning stages during the bid, but will receive accelerated priority, while several minor new projects were programmed with the initiative.
While various infrastructure improvements were planned regardless of the outcome of the Los Angeles Olympic bid, the
extension of the
Metro D Line will be expedited to serve the Olympics. Three phases were created to extend the line. The first phase will extend the D Line from the
Wilshire/Western station to the new
Wilshire/La Cienega station. This phase will be completed by 2024. The second phase will extend the D Line to
Century City by 2025, while the third and final phase will extend the line to the
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center in
Westwood with a completion date set for 2027. The third phase will also include a station adjoining the
UCLA campus, connecting Olympic Village and Pauley Pavilion with venues in downtown Los Angeles.[37][38] Construction began in 2019 and remains on schedule.[37][39][40]
These infrastructure improvements, among others, are being funded by
Measure R, a temporary half-cent sales tax increase, and
Measure M, a continuation of Measure R's tax increase plus an additional permanent half-cent sales tax increase, both tax measures applicable to
Los Angeles County.[44] Measure R was approved by voters in November 2008 and Measure M was approved by voters in November 2016. Both tax measures are unrelated to the Olympics and passed by voters prior to the Olympic Games being awarded.[44]
Budget
In April 2019, the estimated cost of the Games was assessed as being approximately $6.88 billion with all the money coming from the private sector, although the Los Angeles city council and state of California legislators have agreed to serve as a "financial backstop." The organizers adjusted the budget for inflation after LA, which originally bid for the 2024 Games, agreed to wait four more years.[45][46]
The City of Los Angeles is the lead public guarantor, committing to spend up to $250 million to cover shortfalls. In 2016, the California legislature took action so that the Governor is empowered to negotiate the next $250 million in public backup, but only after the city backup money has been used first. LA 2024 also agreed to purchase a wide range of insurance policies to cover financial relief in the event of natural disaster, terrorism, event cancellation, as well as reduced ticket sales. The games are expected to generate as much as they cost, with $2.5 billion coming in through sponsorships and nearly $2 billion earned through ticket sales. Average ticket prices for the games will range between $13 and $457 (in 2016 dollars).[46]
The
federal government will designate the Olympics a
National Special Security Event (NSSE) in which the
US Secret Service heads a single chain of command.[46] The US federal government will also cover the cost of security, with an agreement signed by the LA organizing committee and
Department of Homeland Security in February 2020, but it will not be involved in the Games' funding, covering only the aforementioned security costs.[47]
The Games
Sports
The program of the Summer Olympics consists of mandatory "core" sports that persist between Games and up to six optional sports: optional sports are proposed by the organizing committee in order to improve local interest,[48][49] provided that the total number of participants does not exceed 10,500 athletes.
The inclusion of an additional "core" sport,
boxing, was put on hold by the IOC, but it may be readmitted at a future date.[54]
Of the 16 new disciplines proposed by existing Olympic sports,
beach sprint rowing was the only one to be accepted by the IOC. It will replace the
lightweight double sculls category, and consist of individual events for men and women as well as a mixed double sculls event.[55]
On December 9, 2021, the IOC executive board proposed that skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing, which all successfully debuted as optional sports at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and will return in the same capacity in 2024[56][57] be promoted to the core program of the 2028 Summer Olympics to replace
boxing,
modern pentathlon, and
weightlifting, which were provisionally dropped from the program pending the resolution of governance issues, with the IOC setting a deadline of 2023:[58]
The
International Boxing Association (IBA) has faced ongoing governance issues, which resulted in
boxing at the 2020 Summer Olympics being overseen by an external task force. These concerns increased following the election of
Umar Kremlev as its president in December 2020, due to his extensive ties to Russian president
Vladimir Putin, and his appointment of state-owned oil and gas company
Gazprom as its sole sponsor.[59][60] A competing governing body known as
World Boxing was established in April 2023 by a consortium of national federations, with the IOC voting to strip the IBA of its status as recognized governing body for boxing in June 2023, the first time a governing body had been expelled from the Olympic movement.[61][62][63][64]
On October 9, 2023, the organizing committee announced that they had officially submitted baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash for consideration by the IOC.[69] The five sports were approved at the
141st IOC Session in Mumbai, India.[70]
In addition, the IOC approved modern pentathlon and weightlifting for the core program, citing that the sports' governing bodies had made sufficient efforts in carrying out reforms.[50][51] The IOC withheld a decision on boxing due to the IBA's expulsion and insufficient reach by World Boxing.[50][51]
Marketing
Emblem
On September 1, 2020, the LA28 OCOG unveiled the emblem for the 2028 Summer Olympics, featuring the
characters "LA" and "28" in a stacked layout. The "A" in "LA" is designed to be interchangeable, with variations created in collaboration with athletes, artists, designers, celebrities, and other figures (such as musician
Billie Eilish, Indian-Canadian comedian
Lilly Singh, and actress
Reese Witherspoon).[71][72] There is also a variation derived from the "Stars in Motion" emblem of the 1984 Summer Olympics.[73]
Organizing committee chairman
Casey Wasserman explained that the multitude of variations was intended to "showcase our community's collective creativity and celebrate the diversity that makes us strong", as the city "defies a singular identity". Chief marketing officer Amy Gleeson stated that the emblem was designed to "foster a deeper connection with the audience who will be in their 20s and 30s when the games happen."[71][72][74][75][73]
On March 23, 2024, Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 aircraft was spotted in the special LA28 (Los Angeles 2028 Olympics) livery at Toulouse, France.[76]
On January 16, 2023, the IOC renewed its European pay television and streaming rights agreements with
Warner Bros. Discovery through 2032, covering 49 European territories. The IOC concurrently reached a deal for free-to-air coverage with the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU), whose member broadcasters will carry at least 200 hours of coverage of the 2028 Summer Olympics.[85]
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