As the curtain fell on a memorable Paris 2024 Olympics, the focus shifted to the next Games in 2028.
Hollywood star Tom Cruise, Grammy winner Billie Eilish and other stars took part in the Closing Ceremony on Sunday as Los Angeles took over Olympic hosting duties from the French capital.
While the next Games are four years away, the excitement is already building for what many are calling the Hollywood Olympics.
It will be the fifth Summer Olympics and ninth Games overall to be hosted by the US, and anticipation is high for a spectacle inside and outside the venues as one of the most famous cities in the world begins preparations to add its unique flavour to the Games.
The home of Hollywood has several top-class stadiums, many of which will already have staged a similarly high-profile event by then – the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
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Actor Tom Cruise holds the flag during the Paris Olympics closing ceremony. Reuters -
A fireworks display during the closing ceremony at Stade de France. Getty images -
Cruise was part of the star-studded event. AFP -
The actor left the stadium with the Olympic flag on a motorbike. AFP -
Dancers perform during the event at Stade de France. Getty Images -
American singer Her sang the USA's national anthem. Getty Images -
French singer-songwriter Yseult was one of the performers of the night. AFP -
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, left, and World Athletics president Sebastian Coe presented the medals for the women's marathon. AFP -
Athletes arrive for the closing ceremony. PA -
French President Emmanuel Macron was also in attendance. EPA -
French athletes pass one of their host down the line at the ceremony. Reuters -
Women's marathon gold medallist, Sifan Hassan from Netherlands. AFP -
Flagbearers parade at the ceremony. AP -
Angolan canoeist Benilson Sanda at the ceremony. AFP -
French athletes bid farewell to the rest of the world. Reuters -
Nigerian athletes at the closing ceremony. AFP -
Saudi athletes join in the festivities. EPA -
India's flagbearers, shooter Manu Bhaker, right, and field hockey player Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, at the closing ceremony. Reuters -
China's contingent of athletes enters the arena. Reuters -
Canada's athletes celebrate. AFP -
A huge Stade de France crowd watches as the athletes parade. Reuters -
French singer Zaho de Sagazan performs Under the Paris Sky at the ceremony. Getty Images -
The athletes gather in the stadium for the closing ceremony. Reuters -
The Japanese contingent waves to the crowds. AP -
Team Algeria joins the celebrations. Getty Images -
French swimmer Leon Marchand carries the Olympic flame. Getty Images -
Athletes enter the stadium en masse, instead of being separated by countries for the closing ceremony. AFP -
A performance by an orchestra at the event. Reuters -
Sharon Van Rouwendaal from the Netherlands won a gold medal for the swimming marathon. AFP -
Saudi athletes at the event. AFP -
President Macron and his wife Brigitte were among the spectators of the ceremony. PA
The plan is to repurpose existing infrastructure in Los Angeles – as they did in Paris – rather than build new venues. The LA Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Bowl are expected to host athletics and football, while the SoFi Stadium has been earmarked for swimming.
Apart from the glamour of LA, what is also of interest is the disciplines that have been included in the 2028 Olympics programme.
Which sports have been added to 2028 Olympic Games?
Last year, the International Olympic Committee announced that five new sports have been added to the Los Angeles Games. They are baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, squash and cricket.
Cricket and lacrosse return to the Olympics after more than a century, along with baseball/softball. Flag football is non-contact version of the hugely popular American gridiron football and will make its Games debut, while squash has grown in popularity across the world and has been added to the schedule.
Among the sports added to the list, cricket is by far the most popular sport that makes its return to the Olympics.
Cricket was last played at the Games way back in 1900, when England and France – made up of expats – competed in one match after the Netherlands and Belgium withdrew. England took gold then.
Over the past few decades, demand has grown for the sport to be reintroduced. Time constraints had kept the sport away, until the advent of T20 cricket, which allows a game to be completed within three-and-a-half hours and several matches to be held in a single day.
Last year, cricket was included in the list of disciplines for the 2028 Games. Earlier this year, international cricket formally entered the American market through the T20 World Cup with matches held in Texas, Florida and New York.
“The Olympic Games will give cricket a global stage and the opportunity to grow beyond the traditional cricket countries and regions," IOC president Thomas Bach had said last year.
“And for the Olympic movement, it’s the opportunity to engage with fan and athlete communities to which so far we have very little or even no access.”
Which sports have been excluded from the 2028 Games?
Breaking, or breakdancing as it is more commonly known, made its debut at the Paris Olympics. However, it has not been included in the LA programme and chances are the sport will not be seen on the global stage anytime soon.
Also, it is unclear whether boxing will feature at the LA Olympics. The IOC organised the event in Paris after it stripped the International Boxing Association of its status as the sport's world body over governance and financial management issues.
Rival body World Boxing said national boxing federations needed to join its ranks to ensure the sport is included in the LA line up.
Who decides which disciplines are included in the Olympics?
The Olympic Charter has a provision whereby the local organising body of an Olympic Games has the right to “review the Olympic programme for each edition of the Games in order to introduce innovation and sustainability”.
Accordingly, the LA28 organising committee proposed the inclusion of the five disciplines. Thereafter, the IOC's Olympic programme commission issued recommendations to the IOC executive board. In October last year, the executive board approved the five sports to be included for the LA Games.
