The 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted this Monday in Bombay that the sports program of the Los Angeles Games includes the five new sports proposed by the organizing committee: lacrosse, cricket, baseball/softball, squash and flag football.
The first two were once Olympic more than a century ago, baseball has entered and left the Games several times since 1992 and squash and American football, which will be played in their 'tocho' or 'flag' version (non-contact ), will be an absolute novelty.
The head of the Games Program Commission, the Austrian Karl Stoss, stated that the proposal assumes that "the best" will participate in all modalities, and specifically mentioned baseball and cricket. Their federations and professional leagues will have to facilitate this and the IOC will "closely monitor" that this condition is met.
The session voted en bloc on the Los Angeles proposal, by show of hands, and approved it by a large majority, with only two votes against. These sports are accepted only for the 2028 edition and their continuity in future editions is not guaranteed. Before the vote, the Games organizing team defended its list of additional sports.
John Harper, director of operations, explained that the objective is to innovate and exert the greatest possible impact, show sports rooted in the culture of their country and, conversely, make other internationally relevant sports known in the United States. Baseball, he said, will provide "the best" in Los Angeles with the opportunity to compete in the Games.
Lacrosse "is history" because of its indigenous roots. "It was the first team sport on the continent. It will be a return to the future," he said, after explaining the advantages of the 'sixes' version that will be Olympic.
Niccolo Campriani, Director of Sports, said that American football is the most popular sport in the United States and the 'flag' or 'billet' version proposed for the Games, without contact, is the most inclusive. "Flag football is the future," he said.
The Session had approved the day before the full recognition of the International American Football Federation, which was admitted by the IOC only provisionally.
"It's time for squash," Campriani also said, and I underline its universality by remembering that among the top ten of the world rankings, men or women, four continents are represented.
The manager referred to cricket as the second most popular sport in the world, with 2.5 billion followers. "There is a commitment to grow it in the United States," he said. In addition, he highlighted the digital pull of the sport and mentioned that the Indian player Virat Kohli, present at the meeting, "is the third athlete with the most followers (on social networks), 314 million, "more than LeBron James, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods together".
Karl Stoss detailed that the international baseball/softball federation has 191 national federations, cricket with 108, American football with 74, lacrosse with 90 and squash with 82.
The person in charge of the program stressed that four of the new five are team sports: "The proposal reflects the importance of team sports on the American stage," he said.
But this will mean that in 2028 the quota of 10,500 athletes that will be in Paris 2024 will be exceeded. 742 more athletes will join, so a reduction in the quota for "traditional sports" can be expected, Stoss admitted.
The members of the assembly expressed doubts about the universality of some of the sports, about the difficulty for citizens of some countries in obtaining visas for the United States and about the high number of participants, but they voted in favor almost unanimously.
They also approved the inclusion of weightlifting and modern pentathlon in Los Angeles 2028, after their federations have resolved their pending issues; the first, on governance, the second, on its sports program: it will be held in a single venue, the fencing ranking round is eliminated and horse riding is replaced by an obstacle course.
Boxing, currently without a recognized federation, remains uncertain regarding the nature of its participation in Los Angeles 2028.
After this Monday's voting, the program for that edition will consist of the following sports:
Athletics, rowing (with the novelty of beach sprint rowing), badminton, basketball, canoeing, cycling, horse riding, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, wrestling, swimming, rugby, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis , shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing, volleyball, surfing, skateboarding, climbing, modern pentathlon, weightlifting, baseball/softball, lacrosse, squash, cricket and flag football; with boxing still pending decision. Regarding the Paris 2024 program, 'breaking' disappears.
