INTUSK MAGAZINE

Cricket has prevailed in its fight to be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic schedule, joining squash, lacrosse, flag football, baseball/softball, and other sports in a jam-packed schedule. 

The LA organising committee chose lacrosse, which last competed in 1908, and squash, which has pushed for decades to be included in the Games. 

After lengthy discussions between LA and the IOC's Olympic programming commission, the five new proposed sports are anticipated to get formal confirmation from LA in the coming hours. The 141st IOC session, which starts on Sunday in Mumbai, will then formally ratify them. 

A single match of cricket was played at the Olympics in 1900 between England and France. Both men and women will play in the T20 format. It is very likely that it will be kept for the 2032 Games in Brisbane, Australia. 

However, the addition of five additional sports poses a potential challenge for the International Olympic Committee in terms of meeting its quota of 10,500 athletes for each Games. Los Angeles has not chosen Breaking, which was chosen for Paris 2024. Boxing, weightlifting, and the modern pentathlon were once thought to be under danger; nevertheless, these sports are now regarded as secure. 

It implies that many conventional sports will have to reduce the number of medal events if the Games are to stay inside that magic range of 10,500. Baseball (for men) and softball (for women) were chosen for the Tokyo 2020 Games, where Japan won both gold medals, but not for the Paris 2024 Games.