Sports to Add In LA

As a part of its Agenda 2020 reforms a few years ago, the IOC started allowing host cities to add sports and events to the Olympics that will be featured in their Games only without necessarily becoming permanent editions.  Tokyo was the first Olympics where this was in place, which is why we saw the return of baseball and softball, as well as skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing and karate.  Japan obviously chose well.  They collected a ton of medals in those sports, including gold in both baseball and softball.

In Paris, skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing will return, while "breaking" (breakdancing) will make its debut.  We'll see it in the Winter Olympics for the first time at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, where ski mountaineering will be added to the program.  And the campaigning has already started for both the LA and Brisbane Games, even though they're seven and 11 years away!

Now, I'm lukewarm about the whole adding sports just for one Olympics thing.  I don't think the in and out is helpful either to those sports or to the Olympic Movement.  Sports shouldn't have to constantly be fighting for Olympic status.  They should either be Olympic sports or not.  It shouldn't depend on where a given Olympics is taking place.

But that's what the system is right now, so that's the system we'll have to live with.  And it seems likely that it'll still be in place for LA.  How many sports will be added for LA though?  And which ones?  Let's take a look at some possibilities:

Baseball/Softball: This is Exhibit A of why the new in-and-out (shout out to the Southern California burger chain) approach is stupid.  Because baseball and softball were out of the Olympics for 13 years, only to make a one Olympic cameo before being taking right back off the program.  For what figures to be one Olympics where they're out before once again going right back on.

Everyone knows that baseball and softball will be back in LA.  And, considering how successful Australia has been in each internationally, we'll likely see them in Brisbane, as well.  So that'll be three out of four.  And, unlike the oft-criticized decision to use a single venue in Tokyo, they'll play them in separate facilities in LA.  Baseball can be at Dodger Stadium and softball can be at UCLA.

Skateboarding: Another obvious "yes."  Seeing as skateboarding started in the United States and many of the top skaters are American, there's no way skatekboarding won't be included in LA.  Which would be its third Olympics in a row, effectively making skateboarding a quasi-permanent addition.

Surfing: Unlike Paris and its asinine plan to have surfing 10,000 miles away in Tahiti (they do know that the South of France is a lot closer to Paris, right?), LA can hold its surfing competition on one of their many world famous beaches.  Malibu, Hermosa Beach, Santa Monica, take your pick.  Again, just like baseball/softball and skateboarding, I'd be shocked if surfing's not included in both the 2028 and 2032 Olympics.

Sport Climbing: Frankly, I think they should just rip the band-aid off and make sport climbing a permanent part of the Olympic program!  Because its debut in Tokyo was great, and it's not going anywhere!  In fact, I see sport climbing being one of the added sports at every Summer Games for the foreseeable future.

So, that covers four of the five sports that were added for Tokyo (baseball and softball are a package deal since they have the same international federation).  What about karate?  Yeah, I'd say that one's probably a "no."  Most people thought it would be a one-and-done in Tokyo (another reason why doing it this way is stupid).

I have no idea what they'll do about breaking.  The LA program will likely be finalized before the Paris Games, so they can't use that as a test run.  I'm leaning towards "no," but then again, breakdancing was invented in the U.S. and they're trying to appeal to younger fans with some of these more urban sports.  So, as dumb as I may find Olympic "breaking," I wouldn't be completely surprised to see it in the LA Games.

Then there's E "sports," which will be featured in an international multi-sport competition for the first time at next year's Asian Games.  The IOC has expressed an interest in collaborating with E "sports," but has also shown no indication gaming will becoming a medal event at the Olympics anytime soon.  While it seems possible (likely even) further down the road, 2028 may be too soon.

There are two other sports that I think could be very interesting additions--one team sport and one individual sport.  Whether they ultimately decide to expand the program beyond just the four sports we saw in Tokyo or not, they should both get some serious consideration for the LA Games.  (And, no, football isn't one of them.)

Lacrosse: Of the two, lacrosse seems less likely.  It's a team sport, so that would be an awful lot of athletes to add for just two medal events.  And it's not like they can play every day or even every other day, so I'm not sure how well it would work logistically.  But, lacrosse is a very popular sport in the United States, especially at the high school and college level.  That's the biggest thing it has working for it.

Roller Sports: Roller sports, on the other hand, would make for a very easy addition to the Olympics.  Frankly, I think roller sports should probably be in the Olympics already.  There are actually three disciplines--speed skating, figure skating and inline hockey--so narrowing down which events to include would be tricky.  But roller sports are already included in the Pan Am Games and World Games, so the international participation is clearly there.  And I think they'd be a popular addition to the Olympic program.

It seems unlikely that both lacrosse and roller sports will be added to the 2028 Olympics, so if I had to pick one, I'd say roller sports would have the better shot.  But, I feel confident in saying that we haven't seen the last of Olympic baseball/softball, surfing, skateboarding or sport climbing.  We'll see three of them in Paris.  And I'd expect to see them all in LA (and Brisbane).