Olympia Los Angeles 2028
Cricket will be back in the Olympics – and two sports will make their debut
As of: 4:31 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Cricket is particularly popular in India, Australia and Great Britain – and for a long time it had nothing to do with the Olympics
Quelle: dpa/Rafiq Maqbool
Cricket is celebrating its return to the Olympic program after 128 years. The time has come in 2028 in Los Angeles – that’s what the IOC has decided. The organizing committee’s four other suggestions were also accepted. Two sports are making their surprise debut.
The fact that millions of people are currently caught up in cricket fever goes largely unnoticed in Germany. But the World Cup in India is a sporting spectacle in front of crowds. And that’s exactly where it was decided and announced: cricket has overcome the last hurdle on the way to returning to the Olympic program at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The inclusion of the sport in the competition schedule received approval from the General Assembly of the International Olympic Committee on Monday in Mumbai with two votes against.
But cricket is not the only sport that is receiving Olympic honors again or for the first time in Los Angeles. However, against the backdrop of the IOC session in India, cricket’s comeback received special attention. By taking up the sport, the Olympic organizers also want to generate more interest in the economically attractive market in the world’s most populous country.
Baseball and softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash will also be there in 2028, as proposed by the organizers. “The sports proposed by LA28 stimulate imagination on the field and promote culture. They are relevant, innovative and community-focused and are played in backyards, schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks across the U.S. and around the world,” said LA28 Chairman Casey Wasserman.
Do other sports have to reduce now?
According to industry experts, the Olympic broadcast rights for cricket are worth a good 175 million euros. The Cricket World Cup is currently underway in India – the sport’s six-week title fights are generating great interest, and not just in the host country. Cricket is also very popular in Australia and Great Britain.
The only time cricket was played at the Olympics was in Paris in 1900. A tournament for women and men in a shorter version (Twenty 20) than the original is planned for Los Angeles. Lacrosse was in the program in 1904 and 1908. Baseball and the women’s version of softball have been included several times, most recently at the Games in Tokyo 2021. Flag football – a disembodied version of American football – will be played at the Olympics for the first time. Squash also makes its debut.
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By adding four team sports, the number of participants in Los Angeles is expected to rise again to over 11,000. Most recently, 10,500 athletes at the summer games were considered the maximum. It is still unclear whether other sports will have to reduce their participation in order to help the IOC comply with the limit it has set.
Boxing is still excluded, modern pentathlon is included
Boxing, however, is still not part of the Olympic program for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The IOC decided not to consider the scandal-plagued sport for the Games in five years. The background is the ongoing dispute with the International Boxing Association (Iba), which was excluded by the IOC due to corruption and distortion of competition. Boxing is therefore currently without an Olympic association. However, the exclusion is not final. “I never tire of saying that we want boxing in the Olympic program,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. The IOC has no problem with the boxers, only with Iba.
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However, a rival association called World Boxing is already ready. If recognized by the IOC, this association could act as the organizer of the Olympic tournament in Los Angeles. The qualification for Paris 2024 and the Olympic fights are in the hands of a task force set up by the IOC – as was the case at the recent Olympics in Tokyo.
On the other hand, the modern pentathlon and weightlifting in Los Angeles, which have not yet been considered for 2028, will be back again. In the case of the pentathlon, the IOC leadership awarded the contract because after the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the controversial riding discipline will be replaced by an obstacle course.
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