Summer Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 Sports Programme Road to LA 2028

[Dragon 2,026]

18 minutes ago, Joshi said:

Coming from NZ where cricket is only popular among the private schools and upper class snobs

Although people from different countries could use the same argument for at least 20 different Olympic sports

[SalamAkhi 330]

3 hours ago, mpjmcevoy said:

I could with the French showing off boules, or the Australians AFL, or even the Americans gridiron, as long as they were honest bout what they were doing.

Never going to happen, we're cuckolds, the comitee decided to include breaking instead of a sport that would have granted us medals

[Olympian1010 8,230]

8 minutes ago, SalamAkhi said:

Never going to happen, we're cuckolds, the comitee decided to include breaking instead of a sport that would have granted us medals

The real loss with boules is that  (and others) could have had legitimate hopes.

[El Analyzer 308]

I have some thoughts but could be totally wrong:

• Team sports (which is my favourite sports outside the Olympics) are the most boring sports in the program
• Spending 90 min watching two teams trying to finish a game 0/0 or watching 7 sports in the same duration (I’d go for the latter)
• Why IOC not adding to each program a sport which could add to the medal tally of the small nations, It would be more fair imho to get (for example)   on the medal table 
• Karate is a repeat of similar Martial arts Olympic sports, would it be more fair to have 2 out of karate, Taekwondo and Judo each Olympics and keep rotating? Kickboxing can be added too
• Similar for squash why not rotating with badminton and table tennis
• Breaking is not a sport with all respect, otherwise Salsa and Tango should be included
• Boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon are part of Olympic heritage, can’t believe they could be excluded (but each of them needs to work on some internal issues)
• Golf at Olympics, I would be surprised to see between each 100 persons one is watching it at Olympics!

[NearPup 3,496]

16 minutes ago, El Analyzer said:

 

• Golf at Olympics, I would be surprised to see between each 100 persons one is watching it at Olympics!

There are two reasons golf being in the Olympics makes sense. The first is that (except in very limited cases *cough* Rio *cough*) there is a championship qualify golf course in every major city, so hosting an Olympic golf tournament is very cheap. Given that, golf does not need to provide much value to make sense.

 

But maybe the biggest reason: by having golf in the Olympics it ensures the PGA and LPGA will never schedule an important tournament at the same time as the summer games. Dito with tennis and the ATP/WTA. If you want to watch golf during the Olympics the biggest tournament is… the Olympics.

 

It’s completely fine if more Olympic fans don’t like golf. Golf isn’t in the Olympics for people like us.

Edited September 6, 2023 by NearPup

[El Analyzer 308]

4 minutes ago, NearPup said:

There are two reasons golf being in the Olympics makes sense. The first is that (except in very limited cases *cough* Rio *cough*) there is a championship qualify golf course in every major city, so hosting an Olympic golf tournament is very cheap. Given that, golf does not need to provide much value to make sense.

 

But maybe the biggest reason: by having golf in the Olympics it ensures the PGA and LPGA will never schedule an important tournament at the same time as the summer games. Dito with tennis and the ATP/WTA. If you want to watch golf during the Olympics the biggest tournament is… the Olympics.

 

It’s completely fine if more Olympic fans don’t like golf. Golf isn’t in the Olympics for people like us.

what you are saying is making absolute sense (from IOC point of view) specially second item 

for me as a normal olympic fan I would only watch golf if my brother is playing ...mmm ..actually I will give him a call after the event asking "how was it?" 

[Olympian1010 8,230]

For what it’s worth, the only time I choose to watch golf is during the Olympics. It’s different from other stuff on the program, and the last tournament has the fun tiebreaker for bronze.

[Olympian1010 8,230]

2 hours ago, El Analyzer said:

I have some thoughts but could be totally wrong:

• Team sports (which is my favourite sports outside the Olympics) are the most boring sports in the program
• Spending 90 min watching two teams trying to finish a game 0/0 or watching 7 sports in the same duration (I’d go for the latter)

Can we be best friends? 
 

Our opinions diverge elsewhere, but that is take I can get behind.

[De_Gambassi 1,267]

 

2 hours ago, El Analyzer said:

I have some thoughts but could be totally wrong:

• Team sports (which is my favourite sports outside the Olympics) are the most boring sports in the program
• Spending 90 min watching two teams trying to finish a game 0/0 or watching 7 sports in the same duration (I’d go for the latter)
• Why IOC not adding to each program a sport which could add to the medal tally of the small nations, It would be more fair imho to get (for example)   on the medal table 
• Karate is a repeat of similar Martial arts Olympic sports, would it be more fair to have 2 out of karate, Taekwondo and Judo each Olympics and keep rotating? Kickboxing can be added too
• Similar for squash why not rotating with badminton and table tennis
• Breaking is not a sport with all respect, otherwise Salsa and Tango should be included
• Boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon are part of Olympic heritage, can’t believe they could be excluded (but each of them needs to work on some internal issues)
• Golf at Olympics, I would be surprised to see between each 100 persons one is watching it at Olympics!

We are not talking about the CWGs, these sports are built around the Olympics, you simply can't have any of them on a rotation basis. And really, Judo on rotation ?

 

The issue with martial arts is quite simple anyway, we have the wrong one  Taekwondo should never have been an olympic sport to begin with. Without TWD, Karate would have entered the program at some point in the 90's and absolute no one would have asked for the introduction of TWD after.

[Olympian1010 8,230]

There are very few Olympic arguments that boil my blood as much as “x isn’t a sport.” Mainly because I don’t actually think the Olympics should be solely about sport, but also because it’s insulting to athletes/competitors who work very hard to be the best at what they do. Personally, I believe there should be room for mind sports, artistic competition, and maybe even e-sports. 
 

The Olympics, in ancient times, were meant to be a celebration of humanity. There were sporting and artistic competitions. It was also a time to exchange social/political ideas. People gathered to celebrate many aspects of Hellenic life. I think the modern ideal of the Olympics as a purely sporting competition meant for only the “best of the best” loses sight of what the Games are supposed to be about. The Olympics should be world championships, Cannes/TIFF/Sundance, Glastonbury/Coachella, The World’s Fair, International peace summit, etc. mixed into one.

 

It’s a pipe dream of mine, but I do think the focus on elite sport has detracted from some of the more charming/eloquent aspects of the Olympics. 
 

Cricket, modern pentathlon, breaking, etc. all add something to the event even if you don’t personally enjoy them. The Olympics are fun because of the diversity of sports offered. I don’t think we should lose sight of that during all our deliberations in this thread. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Olympian1010