The International Olympic Committee announced on Monday that five sports will be added to the 2028 Olympic program.
The games, which will be hosted in Los Angeles, will see the debut of both squash and flag football. Sports that were in previous games but were discontinued, such as lacrosse, cricket and softball/baseball, will be making returns in 2028.
“The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.
The decision took place during the 141st session of the IOC held in Mumbai, India. Earlier this month, the governing bodies for each respective sport gave their pitch as to why their sport should be included in the 2028 Games.
Sports that were on a shortlist but ultimately did not make the cut include: karate, motorsports, kickboxing and breakdancing.
“I think the reintroduction of cricket into the Olympics is a significant milestone,” recent Chico State alumni Abhinav Reddy said.
Reddy, who is a casual cricket fan, says he “love[s] to watch the [Cricket] World Cups” and that “until now the [Cricket] World Cup …was the biggest cricketing event, hopefully the Olympics can catch up to it.”
Cricket previously made a singular appearance at the games during the 1900 Paris Olympics, but was removed. Despite the popularity of the sport, especially in South Asia, cricket had not been considered for reintroduction until recently.
Another sport with a similar Olympic history is lacrosse. Included in the 1904 St. Louis and 1908 London Games, lacrosse failed to make official appearances in subsequent games.
“I’m happy that the sport is getting the recognition it deserves,” senior David Gillcrist, president of Chico’s Men’s Club Lacrosse Team, said. Gillcrist also expressed excitement about “how the different countries measure up to one another at an Olympic level.”
Lacrosse originated in North America among the Indigenous people of modern-day New York. Indigenous communities consider the sport a huge part of their culture with the Haudenosaunee people, or Iroquois, having a lacrosse team that plays internationally.
Lacrosse also holds a huge presence in the Northeastern United States, with many colleges and universities in the region funding lacrosse sports programs.
Football, a distinctly American sport, will also be added to the 2028 Olympics. However, it will make an appearance in the form of flag competition.
“I think adding flag football to the Olympics is a cool addition,” says freshman Jason State. “Especially since it is a different set of rules, like no tackling, it isn’t necessarily going to be dominated by the U.S.”
The movement to add football to the Olympic Games was spearheaded by the International Federation of American Football. The move was welcomed by NFL executives who are looking to expand American football globally.
State agrees that the inclusion of flag football is a good expansion of the sport since “other countries will get a go at it.”
Softball/baseball which previously returned for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was reintroduced for 2028 after it was rejected for the 2024 Paris Games.
Squash, a racket sport that is played in a four-walled court, will also be included in the LA Olympics. It has around 20 million players worldwide.
Steven Amador can be reached at [email protected] or at [email protected].
