LA 2028 Olympics add new events in swimming, gymnastics, track; more female spots for first time

The 2028 Los Angeles Games will include the Olympic debuts of the 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly in swimming, a mixed-gender 4x100m relay in track and field and a mixed-gender team event in artistic gymnastics, among other new events.

The International Olympic Committee approved the competition program for the LA Games on Wednesday — a record 351 medal events, 22 more than at the 2024 Paris Games.

“Today marks a monumental step forward in LA28’s pursuit to welcome the greatest collection of athletes ever assembled on the world’s biggest stage in sport,” LA 2028 Chief Athlete Officer Janet Evans said in a press release.

For the first time in Olympic history, there will be more female athlete quota spots (5,655) than male athlete quota spots (5,543) over the 36 sports.

The IOC has more details here on the changes to the Olympic program for LA 2028.

In swimming, the 50m back, breast and butterfly events have been held at the biennial world championships since 2001. The 50m freestyle, which debuted at the 1988 Seoul Games, has been the only 50-meter event on the Olympic program until now.

In track, the mixed 4x100m makes its major championship debut at the first World Athletics Ultimate Championship in 2026 before its Olympic debut in 2028. A mixed 4x400m — with two female runners and two male runners per team — made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The competition format for the new gymnastics mixed team event will be finalized and announced at a later date. The IOC set a timeline for the end of May.

Other changes include additional mixed-gender team events in archery, golf and table tennis, splitting the sport climbing combined event into separate medal events for bouldering and lead and a seventh women’s boxing weight division to equal the men’s amount.

The number of teams in the women’s and men’s soccer tournaments will be flipped. The women will have 16 teams for LA 2028, and the men will have 12. The Olympic women’s tournament has no age restrictions, while the men’s tournament has traditionally been for U23 players with three over-age exceptions.

For the first time, all team sports will have at least the same number of women’s teams as men’s teams. Two women’s teams have been added in water polo, giving the women’s event and the men’s event the same number of teams (12).

The women’s and men’s 3x3 basketball tournaments will add four teams per gender, making them 12-team tournaments.

In archery, a mixed team event has been added in a new discipline -- compound — to join the individual and team events in recurve.

In rowing, women’s solo (CW1x), men’s solo (CM1x) and mixed double sculls (CX2x) will debut in coastal beach sprint, a discipline that was previously confirmed for 2028 inclusion.

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