Los Angeles announces venues for 2028 Games

• Reuters

World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers are to host Olympic baseball in 2028, while surfers would hope to ride the waves to the podium in San Clemente, Los Angeles Games organizers announced on Tuesday.

The competition would be sprawled out around the greater Los Angeles region, with beach volleyball enjoying surf-side digs at Alamitos Beach and squash getting a little Hollywood razzle-dazzle for its Olympic debut on the Universal Studios Lot.

Triathlon competitors would show off their muscles at Venice Beach, while cricket makes its Olympic return after more than a century at the distant Fairgrounds in Pomona, with Anaheim hosting volleyball.

Boxing returns to the Olympic lineup in 2028 with early rounds set for the Peacock Theatre and finals taking place at the Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre applauded the selection of Trestles Beach, with its high-performance waves, as a “prime venue” for elite surfers.

The venue puts the competition about 105km south of Los Angeles, an easy commute after last year’s Paris Games, when surfing was held in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.

“Tahiti was great because the waves were great, but we were removed from ‘ground zero’ of the Paris Games,” Aguerre said.

“Southern California is where competitions, industry, some of the most famous world champions live,” he said. “Contemporary surfing today, really, the epicenter in southern California.”

The Games are to take place from July 14 to 30, 2028.