LA28 Olympic Programme Highlights Innovation and Gender Equality

The IOC Executive Board has approved the LA28 Olympic Games programme, with 351 medal events, 22 more than Paris 2024. The athlete quota remains at 10,500, plus 698 additional spots for five new sports: baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash.

Gender equality is a key milestone. For the first time, all team sports will have equal numbers of men’s and women’s teams. Football will feature more women’s teams (16) than men’s (12), and water polo adds two women’s teams for a 12/12 balance. Boxing adds a women’s weight class for full gender parity in events.

The 351 events include 161 for women, 165 for men, and 25 mixed events. Six new mixed team events are included, such as in athletics, archery, golf, gymnastics, and table tennis.

New medal opportunities include:

• 50m backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly in swimming

• Separate medal events for boulder and lead in sport climbing

• Expanded 3x3 basketball (12 teams per gender)

• Coastal rowing debuts in LA

The programme reflects four guiding principles: gender equality, global appeal, cost-efficiency, and athlete focus. It features 31 official sports, plus 5 additional sports approved earlier.