Olympics: Dates, events, venues, history & more

The 34th modern Olympics will be held in Los Angeles during the summer of 2028 and here's everything you need to know ahead of the sporting extravaganza.

Olympics - Dates

The Olympics will be held between Friday 14th July 2028 and Sunday 30th July 2028.

Olympics - Venues

LA have been keen to emphasise their sustainability credentials ahead of the Games and, as such, no new, permanent stadiums will need to be constructed.

The LA Memorial Coliseum will host the athletics programme for the Games, as it did when the Olympics were previously staged in Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984, while Dignity Health Sports Park, home of the LA Galaxy football team, will also be used.

Some venues will need to be adapted ahead of the Games, notably the SoFi Stadium, which is more used to hosting the LA Rams or LA Chargers in NFL, as that will be the venue for the Olympic swimming programme.

Like for the Games in Paris, venues away from LA are also expected to be used, including in New York and Oklahoma.

Olympics - Prize Money

Prize money was awarded at the Olympics for the first time in 2024, but only in athletics and boxing.

Governing body World Athletics announced prior to the 2024 Games that it would have a prize pool of £1.9m, which was awarded to the gold medallists, with each individual winner picking up a reported £39,400, although relay champions had to divide their winnings between each member of the team.

This financial reward will be extended in LA to include silver and bronze medallists, while other sports could follow suit.

Olympics - TV channel and how to watch

The BBC will once again provide free-to-air coverage of the Olympics in Los Angeles after they agreed a new deal in 2023 that runs through until the conclusion of the 2032 Games in Brisbane.

Streaming service Discovery+ will also provide extensive coverage of the Olympics, just as they did in Paris in 2024.

Which sports are at the Olympics?

As it stands, there will be two new sports taking place at the Olympics for the first time in 2028, with squash and flag football, which is a non-contact version of American football, set to be included.

Cricket, lacrosse and baseball/softball are also set to return for the Games in LA . The latter was last part of the Olympic programme in Tokyo in 2021, but the former two have not been included as part of the summer extravaganza for 128 and 120 years respectively.

While it is good news for those sports, it is not so positive for breaking, which debuted at the Games in Paris but it will not continue in LA, while there are also doubts surrounding boxing, which has been contested at all but one Olympics since 1904, due to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) severing ties with the International Boxing Association (IBA).

Here is a list of the sports that are currently set to take place at the Olympics in LA.

• Aquatics (artistic swimming, diving, marathon swimming, swimming & water polo)
• Archery
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Baseball/softball
• Basketball (including 3x3)
• Boxing
• Canoeing (slalom & sprint)
• Cricket
• Cycling (BMX freestyle, BMX racing, mountain biking, road & track)
• Equestrian (dressage, eventing & jumping)
• Fencing
• Field hockey
• Flag football
• Football
• Golf
• Gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic & trampolining)
• Handball
• Judo
• Lacrosse
• Modern pentathlon
• Rowing
• Rugby sevens
• Sailing
• Shooting
• Skateboarding
• Sports climbing
• Squash
• Surfing
• Table tennis
• Taekwondo
• Tennis
• Triathlon
• Volleyball (including beach)
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling (freestyle & Greco-Roman)

British athletes to watch at the Olympics

Team GB won a total of 65 medals in Paris, one more than they picked up in Tokyo, although their tally of golds was down from 22 to 14.

One of those gold medalists was 800m star Keely Hodgkinson, who produced a dominant performance to upgrade from her silver in Tokyo.  She will be 26 by the time the Games in LA come around, still very much in her prime for a track star.

Other gold medal winners from Paris that could well defend their titles in LA include climber Toby Roberts, triathlete Alex Yee and cyclist Tom Pidcock, who has landed gold in the men's cross-country at the last two Olympics.

Sprint star Louie Hinchliffe, who won the 100m title at the 2024 NCAA Championships, but missed out on the final of that event in Paris, is another with high hopes for the 2028 Games, while two-time Olympic bronze medallist in skateboarding, Sky Brown, could look to upgrade her medal either in that sport or potentially surfing.

International athletes to watch at the Olympics

French swimmer Leon Marchand was the breakout star in Paris, winning four gold medals, and it will be interesting to see if he can replicate or even surpass those efforts in LA.

Another swimmer, American Katie Ledecky, added two more golds to her tally in Paris, taking her to nine in total. She will be 31 by the time the next Olympics come around, but she should have plenty of drive to compete, as she needs one more gold to surpass gymnast Larisa Latynina as the female athlete to have won the most gold medals.

Simone Biles is not too far behind Ledecky on that list with seven golds, but it remains to be seen whether the gymnast will still be competing in 2028, while 2024 100m gold medal winner, Noah Lyles, may also be entering the twilight of his career by the time those Games come around.

How many times has Los Angeles hosted the Olympics?

Los Angeles will be hosting the Olympics for the third time in 2028, having previously staged the Games in 1932 and 1984, and that equals the record currently held by Paris and London.

This will also be the fifth time the United States has staged a Summer Olympics, as alongside LA, St. Louis in 1904 and most recently Atlanta in 1996 have also been host cities.