With flag football making its debut in the 2028 Olympics, here are the basics to know about the sport.
One of the most unique features of the Olympics is the inclusion of optional sports in the program, with some trying to gain permanent footing in the Games and others simply taking place as an homage to the host city for a given year.
This year’s Olympics in Paris will feature several optional sports, and while most will be included in the Los Angeles program in 2028, there are a few sports that may be dropped from the rotation, including a mainstay that has been contested at every Olympics since 1948.
Here’s what to know about changes coming to the Olympic sporting program for 2028.
What’s Leaving the Olympics
Breaking
The sport of breaking was added to the Olympic program as an optional sport for the first time in Paris, but it will not be part of the program in Los Angeles in 2028.
A total of 33 breakers from 16 nations will compete, including four from the United States for what may be the only medals awarded in the sport.
Local
The B-Girls division will conduct its events on Friday, with the B-Boys division taking place on Saturday in Paris.
Boxing
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While breaking is the only sport officially leaving the Olympics for 2028, boxing has not yet been confirmed to be part of the program in Los Angeles.
According to the IOC, that is because of ongoing corruption allegations surrounding the International Boxing Association, the group that until 2020 was responsible for overseeing regulations related to qualifying and competition within the Olympics.
In the last two Olympics, the IBA has not been involved in putting on the boxing tournament, putting the sport on provisional status. If a new governing body cannot be found, boxing will not be included in the Olympic program.
What’s Coming to the Olympics
A total of six new sports will make their way into the Olympic program in Los Angeles, including two making their debuts in the Games.
Those two sports will be flag football and squash, according to the IOC. Flag football will be contested in both men’s and women’s divisions, playing five-on-five on a 50-yard field with no offensive linemen, according to the IOC.
Squash is a racket sport played by singles or doubles players in a four-walled court, with players striking the ball onto playable surfaces within the court in an attempt to prevent legal return shots.
The World Squash Federation has tried on several occasions to get squash into the Olympics, but was finally successful for the 2028 Games. The sport, like flag football, will be considered “optional” and may not return after the LA Games conclude.
Returning Sports
A total of four sports will make their return to the Olympics, including baseball and softball, which will return after being on hiatus during the 2024 Paris Games.
Baseball was an optional sport several times over the years, but was finally added as a permanent sport in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. It was dropped after 2008, but was readded by Tokyo as an optional sport.
According to officials, it is expected that the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane will also include baseball.
Softball was first added to the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta, and was contested each year until it was removed after the 2008 Games. After a comeback in 2020 in Tokyo it was not contested in Paris, but will return to the lineup as an optional sport for the Los Angeles Games.
Interestingly, it will not be played in Los Angeles, with officials announcing that games will take place in Oklahoma City.
For the first time since 1908, lacrosse will also be added to the Olympic program as an official medal sport, with 6-on-6 tournaments being staged in Los Angeles according to the IOC.
Previously, Canada had won two gold medals in the sport, and it had been included as an exhibition sport on several occasions, but this will mark the first time in 120 years that medals have been awarded.
Another sport making its return after more than 120 years will be cricket, which was only contested once during the 1900 Games in Paris. Information on the format has not yet been released, but teams will be trying to become just the second to win Olympic gold in the sport, joining Great Britain in that category.
On a final note, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing will all move from optional sports to permanent events beginning with the 2028 Olympics, according to the IOC.
