Surfing, Skateboarding, and Sport Climbing added to 2028 Games
The Summer Olympics is the biggest venue in the world for swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and several other sports. Now it’s about to become the biggest stage in the world of sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding.
All three sports made their Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 games last summer. Italo Ferreira of Italy and Carissa Moore of the United States took home gold in surfing. In skateboarding gold medals were earned by Yuto Horigome of Japan, Keegan Palmer of Australia, Sakura Yosozumi of Japan, and Momiji Nishiya of Japan. In sport climbing, Alberto Gines Lopez of Spain and Janja Garbert of Slovenia won gold.
The three sports were already scheduled to be part of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has now officially approved the proposal to include them at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The decision was made on February 3, just a day prior to the start of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Casey Wasserman, chairman of the Los Angeles organizing committee felt the three sports were perfect to bring creativity, freshness, and energy to both the Olympic and Paralympic movement. IOC President Thomas Bach recommended the events in December of last year, noting that the proposal was based off the success of these sports at the Tokyo 2020 games.
Although the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles are still more than six years away, it’s not too early to begin thinking about venues and what types and how many events will take place. One thing that is certain is that the Los Angeles Games will take place from July 21 through August 8 in 2028.
