The organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced Friday that the Games’ swimming competition will be moved to SoFi Stadium, while softball will be held in Oklahoma City.
Two temporary pools will be built at SoFi in Inglewood, California, similar to those built at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials this month.
The pools will be built well before the 2028 Games, Casey Wasserman, president of the LA28 organizing committee, told reporters. They will then be covered for the opening ceremony, which will also be held in part at SoFi Stadium; Then he uncovered himself and prepared for the start of the swimming competition.
To accommodate that change, swimming and athletics will swap places on the Olympic calendar. Swimming, which normally begins the first weekend, a day or two after the Opening Ceremony, will move to the second weekend and the final week of the Games. Athletics will begin the first weekend. (Wasserman said the international governing bodies of both sports had approved the change.)
The swim was initially scheduled for a temporary pool on the University of Southern California campus. But USC’s construction plans led organizers to look elsewhere. After years of discussions, they decided on SoFi, which accommodate up to 38,000 fans for sport in 2028.
The US trials currently taking place in Indianapolis, home of the NFL Colts, have averaged around 18,000 fans per night, a modern-era record for any swimming competition but falling short of ambitions. of USA Swimming and less than half of SoFi’s expected capacity by 2028.
Wasserman, however, said he was confident they could fill SoFi, which, like Lucas Oil Stadium, will be split in half, with the competition group on one side and a warm-up group on the other.
“We believe that swimming, clearly one of the most popular Olympic sports, deserves this additional seating capacity,” he said.
Softball in Oklahoma
Due to a lack of seats at potential venues in Southern California, it was announced that softball would be moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Slalom canoeing will also head east, as there is nowhere in the area to hold the event.
The IOC and LA28 decided that this was a better way to do it rather than building temporary venues.
“Both the boating slalom and softball venues in Oklahoma City are built to international competition standards, ensuring a high-quality experience for athletes and fans, while allowing LA28 to achieve cost savings and revenue gains to support its balanced budget.” LA28 said in a statement.. “LA28 also recognizes that the Oklahoma City community has consistently supported major events in both sports and is confident they will do so in these Olympic competitions as well.”
Softball has a history in Oklahoma City, where the Women’s College World Series has been held there every year but one since 1990. The event is not part of this summer’s Olympic program in Paris.
Venue changes for swimming, softball and canoe slalom, among others, LA28 announced on Friday. still requires approval of the host cities.
