Inside the NEXT Olympics as Los Angeles gets set for 2028: NFL stars to play flag football, biggest swimming venue EVER and A-list celebs galore… but will Simone Biles make it?
As the curtain falls on an exciting summer of sport in Paris, our attention quickly turns to the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The glamorous Southern California city expects to welcome the world’s best athletes in 2028, 44 years after the last Summer Games were held there.
Once the closing ceremony wraps up in France on Sunday – which will reportedly see Hollywood star Tom Cruise take over from the previous presenters – LA can finally begin preparing for the next four years.
What can fans expect from the next Olympic Games in California?
DailyMail.com looks at the sports, venues, celebrities and athletes likely to feature at the 2028 Games.
Now that the Games in Paris are almost over, attention will soon turn to the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles
Sporting commotion
The Los Angeles Olympics will see the return of a number of old sports and the introduction of new ones in 2028. Cricket, for example, will make a comeback after a 128-year absence.
Cricket first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1900, but in four years’ time the world-famous bat-and-ball sport will be revived in a six-team tournament.
However, the event could also take place in New York, some 2,000 miles from LA, where the matches are expected to be played, after hosting a couple of T20 World Cup matches this year.
Baseball and softball will also return to the Olympics in 2028. These two sports were removed from the Paris Games after they were scheduled to compete in Tokyo in 2020. Lacrosse will be played for the first time in 120 years.
Several new sports are also preparing for their long-awaited Olympic debut, including flag football – a non-contact version of American football.
There are hopes that NFL superstars will participate in the first-ever flag football competition at the Games, the league’s players association confirmed earlier this year.
“The players want to do it. We support the players who want to do it,” union president Lloyd Howell Jr. said in February. “So we’re all for it.”
Cricket will return to the Olympics in 2028, with matches held 3,200 kilometres away in New York, after the city hosted this year’s T20 World Cup matches
NFL stars like Travis Kelce are likely to compete when flag football makes its debut at the Games
Although it remains to be seen whether boxing will still be an Olympic sport in four years
Howell also admitted that there are still some obstacles to overcome, including training camps that coincide with the Olympics and possible injuries to stars.
Still, it’s entirely possible that fans will see players like Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts — who was recently featured in a promotional video announcing his participation in flag football in 2028 — at the LA Games.
Squash will also make its debut at the Olympics in four years, but it remains to be seen whether boxing will still be an Olympic sport by the time the next edition takes place. A new federation will be needed to organise the sport after the International Olympic Committee severed ties with the International Boxing Federation.
Historical locations
SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams, will host the largest swimming event in Olympic history during the Los Angeles Olympics. Some 40,000 fans are expected to fill the 70,000-seat arena.
Swimming competitions typically attract around 15,000 spectators. If all goes according to plan, SoFi is expected to double that number.
Meanwhile, gymnastics exercises are taking place at the Crypto.com Arena, where LeBron James and the Lakers basketball team play their sport, along with the Sparks (WNBA) and the Kings (hockey).
SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams, will host the largest swimming event in Olympic history in 2028
Track and field events will be held at the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has already been renovated with a 2028 schedule in mind
Track and field events will take place at the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has already been renovated with a 2028 opening in mind.
The Colosseum was the main venue for the 1984 Olympic Games, where American Carl Lewis won four gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 4×100 meters relay and men’s long jump.
Along with SoFi, both arenas will host portions of the opening and closing ceremonies in four years.
Oklahoma City, 1,300 miles (2,099 kilometers) from LA, is expected to host the softball and canoe slalom events, while beach volleyball and 3×3 basketball will take place along Santa Monica and Venice beaches, though changes are still possible.
A-stars in the city
With him set to attend the closing ceremony in Paris this weekend, you can bet Tom Cruise will be a fixture in the crowd at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
And Cruise will almost certainly be joined by a host of Hollywood stars looking to capture a piece of history.
Tom Cruise is expected to take over the baton from current host Paris at Sunday’s closing ceremony, meaning he is likely to be a fixture at the LA Olympics.
Leonardo Di Caprio and Blake Lively are also originally from LA, meaning they too were able to attend events at the Games.
Some of LA’s most famous actors and actresses include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jake Gyllenhaal, Blake Lively and Angelina Jolie.
Reality star Kim Kardashian is also coming from LA, meaning she will also be appearing, along with music legends Miley Cyrus, Will.i.am and Billie Eilish.
Retired sports legends from the city who were able to attend a number of events include basketball great Magic Johnson and hockey king Wayne Gretzky.
Which American athletes will be there?
Barring injuries, American sprinter Noah Lyles will almost certainly compete in his third Games in Los Angeles, after winning gold in the 100 meters in Paris this summer.
And now that Lyles has missed out on the famous 200-meter double, he has another shot at becoming the eighth man in history to win both races at the same Olympics.
Gabby Thomas, Sha’Carri Richardson and Kenny Bednarek are also expected to compete in the 2028 Games.
It is still unclear whether gymnast Simone Biles will come to California.
After her historic appearance at the Paris Olympics, where she became the most decorated American gymnast of all time by winning three gold medals and one silver, Biles hinted that at age 27 she may have competed in her last Olympics.
Noah Lyles will almost certainly go to his third Games in LA after winning gold in the 100 meters in Paris this summer
But it’s still unclear whether gymnast Simone Biles will make it to California
“The next Olympics are at home, so you never know,” she told reporters in France. “But I’m really getting old.”
Her teammates Suni Lee, 21, and Jordan Chiles, 23, will be there regardless, while LSU and TikTok sensation Olivia Dunne could even be an All-American gymnast by 2028.
The LA Olympics will likely come too late for legendary basketball legend LeBron James, who will be 43, but female superstars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are set to make the cut after missing out on the US squad in Paris.
Dodgers baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani could be playing in LA, but it remains to be seen whether 32-year-old Aaron Judge will still be at the peak of his powers in four years.