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IOC greenlights five new sports for 2028 Olympic program in US

"Baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash are the five sports submitted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Executive Board (EB) to the upcoming IOC Session as additional sports for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028," the statement reads

IOC Headquarters David Ramos/Getty Images

IOC Headquarters

© David Ramos/Getty Images

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. /TASS/. The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee has announced a decision to include five new sports events in the program of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in the United States, the IOC press office said in a statement on Friday.

"Baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash are the five sports submitted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Executive Board (EB) to the upcoming IOC Session as additional sports for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028," the statement reads.

IOC President Thomas Bach responded to the decision by saying: "The choice of these five new sports is in line with the 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 Olympic Games LA28 [Los Angeles in 2028] unique," Bach said. "Their inclusion will allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the US and globally."

The IOC statement also added that "This selection of sports is the result of a thorough process and analysis based on evaluation criteria set out before the process began, including gender equality."

After Tokyo was home to the Olympic flame at the 2020 Summer Games, it is set to travel to Paris for the Summer Games in 2024, and then to Los Angeles in 2028. In 2021, at the 138th IOC (the International Olympic Committee) session in Tokyo, Australia’s Brisbane was selected to host the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.

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