Dodger Stadium is home to the LA Dodgers. Photo: photosport
World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers will host Olympic baseball in 2028 while surfers will hope to ride the waves to the podium in San Clemente, as organisers unveiled an array of venues for the Los Angeles Games.
The competition will be sprawled out around the greater Los Angeles region, with beach volleyball enjoying surf-side digs at Alamitos Beach and squash getting a little Hollywood razzle-dazzle for its Olympic debut on the Universal Studios Lot.
Triathlon competitors will show off their muscles at Venice Beach, while cricket makes its Olympic return after more than a century at the distant Fairgrounds in Pomona, with Anaheim hosting volleyball.
Laura Lindemann of Germany wins the mixed triathlon relay race at the Paris Olympics. Photo: photosport
Boxing returns to the Olympic lineup in 2028 with early rounds set for the Peacock Theatre and finals taking place at the Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
"As the host city for the 2028 Games, Los Angeles will become only the third city in the history of the world to host the Summer Olympics three times and these venues will showcase the best of our city to a global audience,Gǥ said City of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre applauded the selection of Trestles Beach, with its high-performance waves, as a "prime venue" for elite surfers.
Carissa Moore of Hawaii surfing at Lower Trestles, San Clemente, California. Photo: photosport
The venue puts the competition roughly 105km south of Los Angeles, a easy commute after the 2024 Paris Games that saw their surfing competition held in Teahupo'o, Tahiti.
"We knew that any solution for LA had to feature the best performance waves, and there is no doubt that location is Trestles," Aguerre said in a statement.
Mixed teams golf
Meanwhile, a mixed-team golf event will debut at the Olympics, with teams comprised of one male and one female athlete from the individual competitions.
The event will be contested as a 36-hole competition, the PGA Tour said, split across two 18-hole rounds, with a maximum of one team per country.
Ryan Fox and Lydia Ko with their respective trophies following their wins at the 2011 New Zealand amateur strokeplay championships in Christchurch. Photo: photosport
International Golf Federation executive director Antony Scanlon said the new event would help build on the sport's Olympic profile since the it returned to the programme for first time in more than a century at the 2016 Rio Games.
"Golf was incredibly successful at Paris 2024 and as we continue building on the momentum from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, we're excited to bring even more attention to our sport through this additional format," Scanlon said in a statement.
"The athletes were very enthusiastic about their desire to play with their compatriots, and we look forward to watching them compete together in Los Angeles."
The group event will take place in between the men's individual competition and the women's competition, at the Riviera Country Club.
The Games will take place between July 14-30 2028.
- Reuters
