New sports, venues, political controversies and everything we can expect from the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games

With the controversial Paris 2024 Olympics now over, attention now turns to the iconic city of Los Angeles, flag bearer to keep the Olympic flame burning in 2028.

While the big Olympic event is a long way off, many details have already been confirmed, including the new sports, the venues and, in addition, the potential political controversies that there could be in four years and that were present in the city of Paris because of the state of the French capital, the opening and closing ceremonies, the health problems of the athletes who swam in the Seine River or the controversy surrounding the boxing discipline and "the athletes" who won gold presenting XY chromosomes.

Of course, geopolitics must also be mentioned, since the Olympics are always used by the great powers to amplify their propaganda and demonstrate their power as a nation through their athletes. On this occasion, having tasted the honeys for two consecutive editions, China will aim again to try to "humiliate" the United States at home to climb to the top of the medal table for the first time since Beijing 2008.

Here's what we can expect from the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games:

New sports already confirmed

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), already made it very clear: the new disciplines that will take place in LA 2028 will be baseball (also in its softball version), cricket, 'flag-football', lacrosse and squash.

"The choice of these five new sports is in line with American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the U.S.," Bach mentioned.

The increasingly popular flag-football is a sport similar to American soccer, but with less contact. Unlike American soccer, in this modality 'tackling' is not allowed. The main defensive strategy is for the defending players to try to remove one of the 'flags' (flags) that the ball carriers wear tied around their waists to stop their advance. This will be his first experience as an Olympian, as will squash.

In contrast, cricket already had Olympic experience at the 1900 Paris Games, while lacrosse was present at St. Louis 1904 and London 1908. Baseball and softball did have a chance and had their appearance in Tokyo 2020.

What is a big question is which sports will no longer be Olympic. For example, "breaking", which has caused much criticism and mockery in social networks, is confirmed not to be Olympic. However, there is great doubt regarding boxing, a long-standing Olympic discipline whose participation is in doubt because of the open conflict between the International Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Association (IBA) The International Boxing Association (IBA), which in recent weeks increased tensions over the cases of "boxers" Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting, who failed gender tests at the 2023 World Boxing Championships because they had XY male chromosomes. This controversy follows the IOC's June 2023 decision to withdraw recognition of the IBA, a situation that puts boxing's confirmation as an Olympic discipline in LA 2028 on hold.

The confirmed venues

According to CNN the Olympic venues will be spread throughout the city of Los Angeles, taking some of its most emblematic places. But it will also be spread out and used to support Oklahoma City, which is literally across the country, some 1,300 miles away.

Los Angeles already has experience as an Olympic host, having received the Olympic torch in 1932 and 1984, something that undoubtedly facilitates the reception of the delegations and the organization. For the time being, it has been decided that the athletes will be housed at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), instead of in a traditional Olympic Village.

While a definite schedule is a long way off, organizers confirmed that the LA Memorial Coliseum arches will preside over the Olympics, making it the first stadium in history to host three Olympic opening ceremonies and track and field competitions.

In addition, the Arena in downtown Los Angeles, regular home of the LA Lakers and LA Sparks basketball teams, will host gymnastics. In turn, the 1932 Exposition Park pool, built for that year's competitions, will host the springboard diving.

CNN also reported that organizers want the swimming events to be held in a temporary pool at Inglewood's SoFi Stadium, normally used to host NFL games.

"The stadium, with a 50-meter pool inside, will hold 38,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic swimming venue in history," the news network reported.

Also, the Los Angeles waterfront will be used as an Olympic venue. The Long Beach Waterfront will host the marathon swim and triathlon, while sailing will take place Belmont Shore in Long Beach.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma City, in a supporting role, will support LA with its Whitewater Center and Softball Park, which will host canoe slalom and softball.

Challenges facing Los Angeles

Right off the bat, two situations concern the city, led by Democrat Karen Bass.

First is transportation. Los Angeles is a very car-dependent city and also one of the world's most heavily trafficked cities. For this reason, the organization and the city want thousands of buses from all over the United States to be loaned to the city for those weeks to try to get fans around the city by public transportation. However, that will not solve the problem of local mobilization, accustomed to the use of vehicles.

The authorities said that they will try that, for those weeks, the companies extend teleworking to avoid the mobilization of the largest number of workers. But, logically, many employees or citizens have jobs that are exclusively face-to-face. So the organization and the city have a major challenge to achieve a harmonious transportation method that meets the demand for internal mobilization during those weeks for the hundreds of thousands of tourists that will fill Los Angeles.

Another major challenge, crucial to both safety and the city's image, is how to address housing and homelessness. California in general, and Los Angeles in particular, face a housing crisis exacerbated by ineffective policies that have failed to address a long-standing structural problem. In France this year, there was a major controversy when Paris decided to evict the homeless to improve the city's image. A similar situation is likely to occur in Los Angeles if the housing problem is not resolved in time.

Mayor Bass acknowledged that the homeless situation could complicate the organization, but assured that the problem will be resolved: "We will get people housed. We will get them off the street.

A new "woke" edition of the Olympics?

It is no secret that California, along with New York, are the most progressive states in the entire Union, making it likely that the opening and closing ceremonies will reflect the ideals of California's generally Democratic rulers. However, it is also true that the federal government plays a role in the organization of the Games, and this year, in November, it will be decided who will be the president of the United States for the 2024-2028 term: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

A Harris mandate could create the ideal context for an Olympics with a progressive focus, while a conservative administration in the White House could serve as a counterweight, seeking moderation after the controversy surrounding the Paris 2024 opening and closing ceremonies, which generated global criticism for their mockery of Christianity.

China seeks to humiliate the United States at home

Now, beyond the organizational details and potential internal controversies on political issues, there is a fact that will spice up the competition and enters geopolitical terrain.

For decades now, the powers have made the Olympics a propaganda arm, using them to project an image of strength, success and patriotism. China, in particular, has come very close in recent editions to cutting into U.S. medal hegemony coming just a couple of gold medals short.

In Paris 2024, the United States and China matched each other in gold medals, but the U.S. delegation won more silver medals and took first place. In Tokyo 2020, it was 39 golds to 38 in favor of the United States. Rio 2016 were terrible for China, falling behind even the United Kingdom. In 2012, China fell eight gold medals short of the United States.

The last time China was able to win the medal standings was in Beijing 2008, hosting, a milestone it was never able to achieve away from home.

For that reason, considering the problems of the Russian Federation to participate, China could arrive at Los Angeles 2028 with the intention of "humiliating" the United States at home, a situation that could be an unprecedented propaganda coup for the Asian power.

However, the United States would also have the incentive of defending its territory and continuing to dominate the Olympic medal table.