MADRID, 13 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed this Friday that in its next Session, which will be held in Mumbai between October 15 and 17, it will study the inclusion of the five sports proposed by Los Angeles 2028, an event for which the entry of the modern pentathlon and weightlifting, and where beach rowing in its sprint form will debut as a discipline instead of the lightweight double scull.
The Organizing Committee of the Los Angeles event proposed the addition to its Olympic program of baseball/softball, cricket (in its ‘Twenty20’ version), flag-football (a modality derived from American football and without contact), lacrosse (in its ‘Sixes’ modality) and squash, which have been reviewed by the Olympic Program Commission before being presented to the organization’s Executive Committee for final approval. Baseball, softball, cricket and lacrosse have already been part of the Games, while flag-football and squash would be their debut.
“The choice of these five new sports is in line with American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the 2028 Olympic Games unique,” said the IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement.
The IOC recalled that this selection of sports is “the result of an exhaustive process and analysis based on evaluation criteria established before the start of the process, including gender equality”, and in which it also considered “the use of the facilities existing, engaging a wide range of sports communities both in the United States and globally, and incorporating some of the most popular sports in the United States and around the world.
In addition, the organization’s Executive Committee reviewed the status of boxing, modern pentathlon and weightlifting for this event and for those whose inclusion in the 28-sport program was not proposed without having met a series of requirements.
It must be remembered that the IOC withdrew its recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA) so “any decision regarding” its presence in 2028 “remains on hold”, while it does recommend the inclusion of the pentathlon “recognising the replacement of horse riding through obstacle courses and the optimization work carried out by the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) to reduce costs and complexity”, and also that of weightlifting after the decision of its International Federation (IWF) “to delegate its management anti-doping in the International Testing Agency (ITA) and entrusting the taking of sanctions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport”.
In this sense, he pointed out that “the effectiveness of the anti-doping programs for the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification and competition” will continue to be personally monitored “closely”, as will “the implementation of the cultural and governance changes adopted by the IWF.” “.
Finally, regarding the program of the different modalities for Los Angeles 2028, only one change has been made compared to Paris 2024, with the entry of the beach rowing sprint discipline that will replace the men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls events. .