LA 2028 Olympics organizers announce plan for venue changes
Organizers for the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics announced several updates Friday, including venue changes and major improvements to existing sites slated to hold various competitions.
The Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028, known as LA28, said the changes would reduce the need for temporary venues by moving more sports to existing locations, saving tens of millions of dollars.
"Each venue shift announced today will achieve at least a $10 million estimated economic improvement, reducing the cost and complexity of temporary stadium builds, overlays and operations, and will accumulate an estimated $156 million in combined savings and revenue increases to support LA28's balanced budget," LA28 Chairperson and President Casey Wasserman said.
The plan also calls for the building of a temporary pool inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, making it the largest swimming venue in Olympic history with 38,000 seats. Previously, swimming was set to take place at a temporary pool on USC's baseball field.
The original 2028 Summer Olympics venue plan was submitted to the city of Los Angeles in Jan. 2017, and the updated reconfiguring includes moving outside of the city of Los Angeles to use existing stadiums rather than building temporary venues, which will save funds.
"Since 2017, the Los Angeles venue landscape has changed, with new professional sports stadiums built or under construction, and previously assigned venues no longer available for use in 2028," organizers wrote.
Organizers also said that new sports have been added to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic sports programs.
LA28's venue masterplan:
- Gymnastics will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles
- Basketball will be held at Intuit Dome in Inglewood
- Swimming moves from building a temporary venue on USC's baseball field, to a temporary pool in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood
- Athletics and Para Athletics will remain at the LA Memorial Coliseum, making this the only stadium in history to host track and field competitions at three Olympic Games.
- Diving will be held at John C. Argue Swim Stadium in Exposition Park
- Artistic Swimming and Para Swimming competitions will be hosted by the City of Long Beach, in addition to several other sports to be announced at a later date.
- The San Fernando Valley will host high energy Olympic competitions in BMX Freestyle and BMX Racing, along with Skateboarding Park and Street, all in the Sepulveda Basin area.
- The Sepulveda Basin area will also host Archery, for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
- Equestrian and Para Equestrian competitions, previously assigned to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, will be held at an existing facility in Temecula
- Shooting and Shooting Para Sport competitions, which were also previously assigned to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, will be assigned to one of two possible sport shooting clubs, to be determined, in the Southern California region.
- Canoe slalom and softball moves to existing world-class venues in Oklahoma City
LA28's plans for Opening and Closing Ceremonies remain unchanged.
