The organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced Friday that the swimming competition will move to SoFi Stadium and the softball will take place in Oklahoma City.
The U.S. Olympic swimming trials will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, home of the NFL’s Colts, giving Olympic organizers an idea of what the event would look like in a football stadium.
SoFi Stadium, home of the NFL’s Chargers and Rams, is expected to seat 38,000 fans for swimming. Preparations for the event will require the Olympic schedule to be adjusted, with athletics coming in the first week and swimming in the second week – a change approved by their respective governing bodies, World Athletics and World Aquatics.
“To put one of the three major Olympic sports in a spectacular location with the capacity we could have to showcase that sport was, quite frankly, too good an opportunity,” said Casey Wasserman, chairman of the organizing committee . told the New York Times.
Part of the 2028 Olympic opening ceremony will take place at SoFi Stadium, meaning the competition and warm-up pools will have to be covered and organizers will need time to prepare the venue for swimming.
Softball in Oklahoma
Due to a lack of seating at potential locations in Southern California, it was announced that softball will move to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The canoe slalom also heads east, as there is nowhere in the area to host the event.
The IOC and LA28 decided this was a better way than building temporary venues.
“Both the canoe 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 realize 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 top events for both sports and is confident they will do the same for these Olympic competitions.”
Softball has a history in Oklahoma City, with the Women’s College World Series taking place there every year but one since 1990. The event is not part of this summer’s Olympic program in Paris.
The location changes for swimming, softball and canoe slalom, including LA28 announced Friday, still require approval from the host cities.
