"The USA just adding the sports that only they do?! Is that allowed?" - Eilish McColgan on five new sports being added to 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee had named five sports to be included at the 2028 Games, including cricket, flag football, lacrosse, squash, and baseball/softball.
The 2028 Summer Games are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles, California, United States from July 14 to July 30, 2028. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board reviewed the proposal and put it forward for revision at an IOC session held on Monday, October 16, 2023, in Mumbai, India.
Eilish McColgan, the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games Champion in the women's 10,000m, took to social media to express her dissent. She called out the LA '28 for only including sports that are popular and widely played in the USA.
"The USA just adding the sports that only they do?! Is that allowed?" she questioned. "In that case, why didn't Tokyo bring back Sumo Wrestling and clean up the medals...," McColgan added.
Further, she explained her opinion that all five sports should be first played at continental championships before they are inducted into the Olympics.
"My personal opinion is that these sports should be played globally and hosted at Continental Champs like African Games, Commonwealth Games etc before deemed suitable for the Olympics," McColgan explained.
IOC approves five sports for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
The IOC approved the inclusion of five sports; cricket, flag football, lacrosse, squash, and baseball/softball to be inducted at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics at the 141st IOC session in Mumbai, India. The recent IOC reforms allow the host nations to add sports to their edition of the Games.
While baseball/softball, cricket, and lacrosse will return to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, flag football and squash will make their debut at the Games. Cricket was included in the 1900 Games in Paris, with only two countries competing when England defeated the host nation team. Cricket will make its return to the Olympics after 128 years.
Lacrosse was included in the 1904 and 1908 editions of the Games. Baseball and Softball were included in several editions of the Games. Baseball was admitted in 1904 as an unofficial sport; it became a recognized Olympic sport at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
Baseball will be played for the 15th time at the Olympics. Softball was included in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Games, only to make a return in the 2020 Games for a single appearance.