LA28 Sports Program Additions Indefinitely On Hold

The announcement of proposed additions to the LA28 program has been postponed indefinitely, said U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Sarah Hirshland, who sits on the IOC program commission.

Hirshland’s spot on the commission does not mean she is involved in the discussions between LA28 and the International Olympic Committee, instead focusing on a set of principles for Games involvement that includes gender equity. She did say Thursday during a USOPC board of directors’ news conference that “LA28 and the IOC are in productive discussions about a resolution.”

The IOC had announced a Friday news conference in which the LA28 program would be revealed. But, the news conference was canceled as the IOC cited “ongoing discussions” despite the timetable being known for years.

The IOC approved the initial program in February 2022 and nine sports made their case for inclusion to LA28 and the IOC; baseball/softball (which the IOC sees as one discipline because the sports are under one international federation), breaking, cricket, flag football, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, motorsport and squash. One sport that was temporarily off the LA28 program, boxing, was added back to the schedule in June.

It would be hard to envision an Olympics in the United States that does not include baseball and softball. That would also lead one to believe flag football could be high on the list. The two dark horses are breaking and cricket. Breaking in Paris 2024 has sold out and its younger demographic is attractive for the IOC. Putting cricket on the LA28 program could give the IOC something to promote when opening up its next TV package in India, which would bring in hundreds of millions dollars in new revenue.

Traditionally the host has proposed which sports it would like to add with the IOC giving approval at the session. As part of its Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC has mandated a cap of 10,500 athletes for the 2028 Summer Games. There are several team sports that could conceivably lead to the athlete cap being exceeded, which could be one of the key points of contention.

“I don’t know what the discussions are in terms of what might cause that 10,500 cap to move. I do expect that as resolution comes to play we’ll have a little bit of visibility as to whether there is motivation or a proposal to move that number or not,” said Hirshland, who added “I don’t know if that is on the table.”

Salt Lake Bid Endorsed

USOPC Board Chair Gene Sykes announced the USOPC has fully endorsed the Salt Lake City-Utah Bid Committee’s intention to offer the IOC a formal preferred host submission. Sykes has also signed and delivered a letter of support for the Salt Lake bid to the IOC to return the Winter Games to the same region that hosted in 2002.

The next question is which Games will come to Utah. The USOPC and Salt Lake bid leaders have said they prefer 2034 — Sykes called it “the optimal time for the United States to host the Winter Games” on Thursday — although there remains the possibility of 2030. A delegation from France met recently with the IOC about a 2030 bid, joining a group that includes bids from Sweden and Switzerland.

The IOC could invite cities for both 2030 and 2034 to targeted dialogue at its session next month in India, with the ability to formally award bids when the full IOC meets in Paris before the start of the 2024 Summer Games. But if France becomes the pick for 2030, the IOC charter says “election of the host of the Olympic Games takes place in a country having no candidature for the organization of the Olympic Games concerned,” meaning the vote would be further delayed.

“We are very grateful to the board of the USOPC for their partnership and now their endorsement of our bid,” said Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games Chief Executive Officer Fraser Bullock. “We are ready for targeted dialogue if we are so fortunate to receive that invitation.”

Conference Realignment in Focus

The recent spate of college sports conference realignments could have a major effect on the Olympic development pipeline, especially with the number of West Coast schools scrambling to find new conference affiliations. Athletes from Stanford won a total of 24 medals at the Tokyo Games, which alone would have put it in a tie for 11th in the overall medal table.

In Tokyo, out of 626 athletes that represented Team USA in the Olympics, 76 percent were current or former student-athletes. Nearly 40 percent of Team USA had a collegiate background at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

“Many of the current Pac-12 institutions that will realign in the future are incredibly important and have been wildly successful in developing U.S. Olympic athletes,” Hirshland said. “We’re focused on it from a pipeline perspective and are working almost school by school with some of these organizations on how we can be most helpful.”