The LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee proposed the five sports as a package for their own edition of the Games and these were reviewed and supported by the Olympic Program Commission (OPC) and the Executive Board (EB) of the IOC.
It will be a return to the Olympics for the sports of baseball and softball, cricket and lacrosse, while flag football and squash will be at the LA Olympics for the first time.
Baseball and softball have been played at several editions of the Olympic Games, most recently in Tokyo 2020. Cricket was on the program at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. Lacrosse was on the program in St. Louis in 1904 and in London in 1908. Flag football and squash will be played at LA28 for the first time.
“The decision to add these five new sports to the program is consistent with American sports culture and is intended to showcase iconic American sports to the world while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the LA28 Olympic Games unique,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “The addition of these sports will allow the Olympic Movement to reach new communities of athletes and fans in the United States and around the world.”
“I have long believed that in Los Angeles we have an incredible opportunity to host the most attractive Olympic Games, not just for us but for the entire world. Our Olympic sports program as a whole reflects this belief,” said LA28 Chairman Casey Wasserman. “We are thrilled to be able to build a revolutionary collaboration with major professional sports leagues that will open up tremendous opportunities to expand the Olympic and Paralympic story and captivate new audiences.”
The selection of sports is the result of an in-depth process and analysis based on evaluation criteria established before the start of the process, including gender equality. It considered the use of existing facilities, incorporating a wide range of sports communities both in the United States and worldwide and some of the most popular sports in the United States and around the world.
2023-10-16 15:12:50
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