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US in the recent past and flag football is also enjoying a growing popularity, in particular among girls and women – because with flag football you’re avoid- ing some of the challenges and injuries faced in American football.”
ATHLETE QUOTA The IOC Sports Di- rector, Kit McConnell, explained that with the inclusion of the five additional sports for LA28, four of which are team sports, the IOC athlete quota of 10,500 will definitely be surpassed, however, they will work on ensuring that the final number remains reasonable and below the overall quota for Tokyo 2020. McConnell said: “In terms of the quo- tawehavetobeveryclearthatitisa package put forward by the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 alone, so it is for that edition of the Games and doesn't necessarily set the precedent for the future. Tokyo was the first time we had the OCOG propose sports and a team sport, baseball/softball, was part of that, and the whole package was above 10,500. In Paris because the package consisted of four individual sports with
relatively low quotas, that was inside the 10,500 so both of those reflected the context of the package.”
The programme of events and athlete quotas for LA28 will be finalised after Paris 2024.
MODERN PENTATHLON The place of modern pentathlon, a multi-discipline sport created by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympic move- ment, which has been a core Olympic event since 1912, was in danger after episodes of horse cruelty at the Tokyo 2020 Games. However, the UIPM’s de- cision to replace riding with obstacle racing has now been acknowledged by the IOC EB. President Bach em- phasised that “without the exchange of riding with obstacle racing the sport would not have been included in the programme.”
WEIGHTLIFTING For weightlifting, which was plagued by its “historical incidence of doping”, the IOC is im- pressed with how the International Weightlifting Federation has tackled the issue by delegating its anti-doping
Atlhetes representing program sports for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games pose for photographs, (L-R) Cayden Close, Gridiron, Jake Burns, Baseball, Lauren Kua, Cricket, Jess Turnbull, Squash, Tay- lah Tsitskronis, Softball and Olivia Parker and Campbell Mackinnon, Lacrosse,dur- ing a media opportunity at Museum of Contemporary Art on October 17, 2023 in Sydney, Australia
management to the International Test- ing Agency and its sanctioning to the Court of Arbitration for Sport at least until the end of the year 2028. “We could see their really robust anti-dop- ing programme in place addressing our concerns.” Bach added.
BOXING Following the expulsion of the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the Olympic Movement, there is currently no international boxing body affiliated with the IOC and as a result the IOC EB will decide on boxing’s in- clusion in the LA28 sports programme at a later date. “We want boxing on the programme, we have no problem with boxing, we have no problem with the boxers, we have just a huge problem with regard to the governing body,” Bach reiterated.
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PHOTO BY MARK EVANS/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE AOC