The map for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles is beginning to fill out with the confirmation of venues for 19 more sports throughout Southern California.
Friday morning’s announcement from the LA28 organizing committee puts golf at the Riviera Country Club and seven other events along the Figueroa Corridor downtown. Long Beach will get seven sports and Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson will get four.
“We’re very proud to bring the Games to many of our vibrant and diverse communities,” LA28 chief athlete officer Janet Evans said in a statement. “The venues in these cities are world-class.”
The new additions follow last month’s news that SoFi Stadium and Intuit Dome, both in Inglewood, will play a major role in 2028. They also respond to concerns about L.A. getting a lion’s share of Olympic action.
Olympic swimming events at SoFi Stadium? Yes, say 2028 Olympic organizers, who plan to hold events at venues that will provide more seats and raise more money.
Two weeks ago, city council members complained about moving swimming and basketball to the Inglewood sites.
“I’m just going to say it because it’s true: We aren’t getting enough events,” Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said.
Riviera in Pacific Palisades was an obvious choice for golf, having hosted an annual PGA Tour event, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.
The Los Angeles Convention Center — next door to Crypto.com Arena, where gymnastics will be held — will get fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo and wrestling. Weightlifting will be at Peacock Theater in L.A. Live and badminton will be a few miles down Figueroa Boulevard at USC’s Galen Center.
More venues within city limits are expected to be announced in the months ahead.
“The city of Los Angeles will host more Olympic sports than anywhere else,” said Evans, a four-time gold medalist in swimming.
The planned Long Beach cluster includes triathlon and marathon swimming along the waterfront, rowing and canoe sprint at Marine Stadium and handball at the Long Beach Arena. Sailing will take place at Belmont Shore and a temporary facility for water polo will be constructed in the convention center lot.
Long Beach also was part of the 1932 and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
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1. An artist’s rendering of wrestling at the Los Angeles Convention Center during the 2028 Olympic Games. 2. An artist’s rendering of badminton at Galen Center in Los Angeles. 3. An artist’s rendering of the Olympic judo competition at the Los Angeles Convention Center. 4. An artist’s rendering of weightlifting at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. (LA28)
The stadium at Dignity Health Sports Park, which opened in 2003 as the Home Depot Center and is home to the Galaxy, will be used for rugby. Tennis will be played at the park’s 8,000-seat tennis center and cycling will take place at an adjacent velodrome that was used in 1984 and has since been refurbished.
From the earliest days of their bid, LA28 organizers — who also will stage the 2028 Paralympics — vowed to save money by using existing stadiums and arenas.
The Coliseum, a centerpiece for both of the city’s previous Olympics, will be fitted with a temporary raised floor to accommodate track and field. Initial plans had judo and wrestling at Pauley Pavilion; the UCLA campus now will be devoted to an athletes village with living and training facilities.
“That’s the whole reason you send the Games to somewhere like Los Angeles,” said Victor Matheson, a sports economist at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. “They have a huge number of venues.”
The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizing committee is entering the final and toughest stage of its long life — turning the Games into a reality.
