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≡ THE VENUE PLAN ≡
Most of the remaining questions about sports and sites for the 2028 Olympic Games were answered on Tuesday, as the LA28 organizing committee published a list of assignments, with venues in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The new sports assignments:
● Athletics/marathon: Venice Beach start
● Baseball: Dodger Stadium
● Boxing: L.A. Live/Peacock Theater for prelims; Crypto.com Arena for finals
● Cricket: L.A. County Fairgrounds
● Cycling/Road: Venice Beach start
● Equestrian: Santa Anita Park
● Gymnastics/Rhythmic: USC/Galen Center
● Rowing/Coastal: Long Beach waterfront
● Shooting/Pistol-Rifle: Long Beach Convention Center
● Shooting/Shotgun: LA Clays Shooting Sports Park
● Sport Climbing: Long Beach Convention Center
● Squash: Universal Studios
● Surfing: Tresles Beach
● Triathlon: Venice Beach
● Volleyball/Beach: Alamitos Beach
● Volleyball/Indoor: Honda Center
Still unassigned is the cycling Mountain Bike course and the football preliminaries, previously stated to be played outside of California. With the move of Rhythmic Gymnastics out of Crypto.com Arena to make way for boxing finals, it is not clear where Trampoline will go, but a move to be with Rhythmic at USC’s Galen Center makes sense.
The marathon and cycling road race starts at Venice Beach take advantage of cooler weather near the coast for both of these endurance events. Unanswered is where the race walks or the cycling Time Trials will be; they could also start in Venice, but could also be placed elsewhere; race walking is often done on loop courses outside the track & field venue.
The equestrian competition at Santa Anita harkens back to the 1984 Olympic Games, where part of the grandstand and temporary stands were added to create a 33,000-seat site for Dressage and Jumping. The Cross Country element of Eventing was not held there due to concerns over heat and horse health and was moved to Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in San Diego County; this will have to be considered once again for 2028.
The move of triathlon from Long Beach to Venice Beach also raises a question about the 10 km Open Water swimming events, also previously assigned to Long Beach, but which might be more conveniently held in the same location.
But most of the questions have been answered.
There was no announcement about Sailing moving from to San Pedro as has been demanded by L.A. 15th District City Council member Tim McOsker, so it remains in Long Beach, but the City of Los Angeles picked up baseball, boxing, the cycling road races and triathlon.
It does not appear that any moves of sports out of the City of Los Angeles were made, so no further approvals from the Los Angeles City Council appear to be needed. The tug-of-war over the prior approvals which were subject to the movement of Sailing to San Pedro is still ongoing.
The International Olympic Committee said last week it was satisfied with the venue master plan submitted by LA28 and left the announcements to the organizing committee. Most of that is done now.
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