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≡ LOS ANGELES 2028 ≡
After obtaining committee approval on Wednesday, the series of requested venue changes from the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee was approved on Friday (28th), 14-0, by the Los Angeles City Council on Friday, essentially assuring the placement of these sports as now proposed.
But the LA28 organizers are still in overdrive, moving more sports around and pushing to complete their primary venue planning so that a fairly comprehensive program can be presented for approval to the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board on 9 April.
The latest changes that required City approval were of sports that were at venues inside the City of Los Angeles during the bid phase in 2017, but are now planned to be elsewhere:
Olympic Games:
● Aquatics/Artistic Swimming: to Long Beach Sports Park
● Aquatics/Swimming: to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood
● Basketball: to Intuit Dome in Inglewood
● Canoe/Slalom: to RiverSportOKC in Oklahoma City
● Equestrian: to Galway Downs in Temecula
● Football: preliminaries to be held out of state
● Shooting: to an existing facility in Los Angeles County
Paralympic Games:
● Aquatics/Swimming: to Long Beach Sports Park
● Equestrian: to Galway Downs in Temecula
● Shooting: to an existing facility in Los Angeles County
● Volleyball/Sitting: to Long Beach Arena
Additional announcements or confirmations on Olympic venues were made Wednesday and Friday and now include:
● Archery: to the Dignity Health Sports Park
● Basketball/3×3: to the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area
● Cycling/BMX: to the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area
● Flag Football: to BMO Stadium
● Lacrosse (6s): to BMO Stadium
● Modern Pentathlon: to the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area
● Skateboarding: to the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area
Further, the City Council’s approval of the venue included a motion from Council member Tim McOsker of the 15th District, to move the Sailing events from Long Beach into his district in San Pedro. No word from LA28 whether it will accept this change, or whether it will be accepted by World Sailing or the International Olympic Committee; Long Beach has an existing sailing organization and infrastructure and hosts an annual regatta for the Olympic classes. No comparable regatta is held in San Pedro, about five miles north of Long Beach.
Archery was originally supposed to be at SoFi Stadium and as late as Wednesday, was to be at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, but now heads to Carson, California and the Dignity Health Sports Center, already hosting track cycling, field hockey, rugby sevens and tennis.
So what’s left? The list is narrowing:
● Athletics: marathon and walk courses
● Baseball
● Boxing
● Cricket
● Cycling: mountain bike
● Cycling: road race and time trial courses
● Football preliminaries
● Shooting
● Sport Climbing
● Squash
● Surfing
● Volleyball/Beach
● Volleyball/Indoor
For the IOC’s purposes on 9 April, the road courses for track & field and cycling can wait, as can football prelims sites outside of California. Baseball is expected to be at Dodger Stadium; shooting has been confirmed at one of two sites in L.A. County, and surfing will be in Huntington Beach or at the Lower Tresles Beach in San Diego County.
There has been chatter about cricket being outside of Los Angles and no word at all on Squash, an added sport for LA28. Sport Climbing was not assigned in the bid; beach volleyball was identified for Santa Monica, but the prior City Council was not ready to work with LA28 as proposed last October, but four of the seven members of the current Council are new. Indoor volleyball was proposed at the Honda Center in Anaheim in the bid, but has not been confirmed and the area around the venue is under redevelopment (but the venue continues in use).
So there will be more announcements over the next two weeks. In the aftermath of the McOsker amendment last Friday, will the City of Los Angeles try to add any other sports?
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