2028 Olympic Games/Los Angeles

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MUMBAI, India (AP) — Cricket’s return to the Olympic program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games drew an enthusiastic response from around the world.

https://apnews.com/article/cricket-olympics-los-angeles-28c382bd90363eef344f9dad0a9b7e60?

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Squash, Flag Football Olympic Debut

Olympic officials approved five additional sports to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Games at its annual session yesterday. The 33-sport program will now feature cricket, lacrosse, baseball and softball, as well as the Olympic debuts of squash and flag football.    Squash is played in over 150 countries and is inexpensive to field; its inaugural inclusion gives Egypt—which dominates the sport—a window to add to its eight all-time Olympic gold medals. The NFL, the world's most lucrative sports league, campaigned for flag football's first-ever showing to increase American football's popularity worldwide. Lacrosse, the oldest sport in North America, last played in the Olympics in 1908, and cricket's 1.4 billion fans will see the sport at the Games for the first time since 1900. Baseball and softball participated in 2020 but aren't included in Paris 2024.    Relatedly, the International Olympic Committee will keep boxing on the program in 2028 after it withdrew recognition of the International Boxing Association for compliance issues in June, a rare move.

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How tech will power the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

This week, Autodesk was named the Official Design and Make Platform for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. What this means: Autodesk software will support LA28’s more than $1B temporary overlay and construction plan, helping LA28 retrofit 40+ venues across the Los Angeles Metro Area. Learn more.

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Paris passes torch to L.A.

Tom Cruise is lowered into the Paris Olympics closing ceremony yesterday. Photo: Natacha Pisarenko/AP PARIS — The 2024 Olympics finished with a flourish, Axios' Ina Fried writes: First came the nail-biting gold medal women's basketball match, where the U.S. held off France by a single point. Then came Paris' majestic, star-studded closing ceremony at the picturesque Stade de France to hand the Summer Games off to Los Angeles, which will host the event in four years. Tom Cruise wowed by descending from the top of the stadium to electric guitar "Mission: Impossible" riffs. Once his feet were back on the ground — and after shaking hands with enthralled athletes — he took the Olympic flag from star gymnast Simone Biles, fixed it to the back of a motorcycle and roared out of the arena. ? By the numbers: Team USA tied China for the most golds with 40 each. The U.S. won the overall count in a landslide with 126 medals, almost three dozen more than China. Watch Tom Cruise's entrance ... Full medal table. Fireworks signal the end of the closing ceremony at the Stade de France. Photo: Luca Bruno/AP ? P.S. NBC said the U.S. men's basketball team's thrilling win over France on Saturday was the most-watched gold medal game since 1996. Go deeper. Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun Tom Cruise, representing L.A.'s. local industry, receives the Olympic flag from Simon Biles and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, kicking off the runup to LA28. Closing ceremony performers.

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L.A.'s epic challenge

The Red Hot Chili Peppers perform yesterday at a handover celebration for the summer Olympics. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for LA28 The Paris Olympics will be a tough act to follow, and L.A. is already making some highly ambitious plans for 2028, Axios' Ivana Saric reports. The big picture: Organizers for the L.A. Games have said they won't build any new permanent structures. Events will be spread out across the sprawling metro area. ? The UCLA campus will hold the Olympic Village. ? Some swimming events will be held in Long Beach, and BMX racing will happen in the San Fernando Valley. ? The opening ceremony and some swimming events will be held at the 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The intrigue: L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has said the Games will be "car-free," accessible only by mass transit — a tall order for a car-dependent city. Officials are hoping to collect about 3,000 buses, from all over the country, to help make it happen. Go deeper.

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? Goodbye Paris; hello L.A.

By Andrew Keatts

San Diegan Nevin Harrison took home silver in Paris in the single canoe 200 meters, coming up just short in her attempt to win consecutive golds. Photo: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC)

More than 50 athletes with San Diego ties brought home medals at the Paris Olympics — and the next Summer Olympics are headed to our backyard. Why it matters: The Paris games received rave reviews, and a preview of the 2028 games during the closing ceremony — with a Tom Cruise cameo — briefly shifted attention to Southern California's turn to carry the torch. Flashback: San Diego and Tijuana actually planned to enter a bid to host the first cross-border Olympics in 2028. The U.S. Olympic Committee extinguished that idea in 2013, declaring that international rules do not allow joint candidacies. What we're watching: Short of a change to those rules, the next Olympic games are going to be the closest we get to hosting duties. By Olympic standards, a two-hour drive — or beautiful coastal train trip — is as close as it gets. So, you tell us: Reply to this email if you are making plans to attend or otherwise take advantage of the Los Angeles games in 2028.

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2028 Los Angeles Olympics will feature baseball at Dodger Stadium

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will feature baseball at Dodger Stadium in its return to the program with surfing and cricket held outside the city as part of an updated venue plan released Tuesday by the organizing committee. Read More.

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LA Olympics to sell naming rights to some venues in game-changing deal for 2028

Organizers of the Los Angeles Olympics will sell naming rights for a handful of its venues in deals expected to bring multiple millions of dollars to the 2028 Games while breaking down the International Olympic Committee’s long-sacrosanct policy of keeping brand names off its arenas and stadiums. Read More.

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2028 Olympics could bring big wins for Los Angeles labor unions

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As Los Angeles ramps up for the 2028 Olympics, local unions are drawing inspiration from the Paris Games when hotel workers went on strike a day before opening ceremonies.

https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-olympics-workers-housing-minimum-wage-0fb5e2c7870adfec90872bce7e28efc2?

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LA 2028 Olympics board backs Wasserman after Epstein files stir scrutiny Casey Wasserman’s job as chairman of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee is safe after the LA28 board’s executive committee met Wednesday to discuss his appearance in recently released government files about Jeffrey Epstein. Read more.

What to know: Wasserman has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, but documents released by the Justice Department revealed he exchanged flirtatious emails in 2003 with Ghislaine Maxwell, who would be accused years later of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse his victims.   LA28 says it conducted a review with an outside legal firm of Wasserman’s past Epstein and Maxwell interactions, with Wasserman’s full cooperation. “We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented,” the board’s executive committee said.   Wasserman's eponymous sports marketing and talent-management company continues to lose clients over his emails to Maxwell. Retired U.S. women’s soccer star Abby Wambach and Grammy-winning singer Chappell Roan left his agency and five other artists either have demanded Wasserman step down from the firm or said they are planning to end his representation.

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Transgender women athletes banned from female Olympic events by new IOC policy

GENEVA (AP) — Transgender women athletes are now excluded from women’s events at the Olympics after the IOC agreed to a new eligibility policy on Thursday which aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

https://apnews.com/article/ioc-olympic-transgender-female-eligibility-520cd9cee152a312767a667acf77dbc8?

🏃‍♀️ Olympic organizers are banning transgender women from competing in the female category, while also instituting DNA-based sex testing for all female athletes. Go deeper.

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Higher costs

FIFA raised the top ticket price for the World Cup final to more than $10,000 during a glitch‑plagued reopening of sales after the tournament’s expanded 48‑team field was finalized. Soccer’s governing body is using dynamic pricing for the event.

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IOC eases path toward Russia returning with full team at 2028 LA Olympics

GENEVA (AP) — Russia moved closer Tuesday toward having a full team with its national flag and anthem at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

https://apnews.com/article/ioc-olympics-russia-2028-822fc74919e9092d551f0c575408bf8d?