The International Olympic Committee’s executive board has recommended the inclusion of five sports for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The sports that have received the nod from the IOC includes Cricket, Squash, Flag Football, Lacrosse, Baseball and Softball.
All the sports are now on the cusp of making the final cut to the Olympics. After passing many hurdles, the only step remaining now is the IOC session’s vote on the sports. It will take place on Monday that will formalise the addition of the sports officially to the Los Angeles Olympics. InsideSport takes a look at all the sports in brief.
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Cricket
Cricket will be making its comeback to the Olympics after 128 years. The sport was last played in the Olympics way back in 1900. Just one match was played in the tournament between Great Britain and France, which was a two-day game comprising 12 players per side.
The sport has come a long way since then and at Los Angeles, it is set to be played in T20 format. All these years, one of the primary reasons for cricket not finding a place in the Olympics is sue to its longer duration with the Test and the ODI format.
T20s came to the fore in the mid-2000s and changed the face of the sport completely. The ever-increasing popularity and the viewership for the shortest format expecially with the proliferation of leagues all around the world has paved the way for the sport finding a place in Olympics.
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Squash
Squash has been pushing for a place in the Olympics for more than a decade now. It is one sport that has never featured in any of the Olympics before. The sport is similar to Tennis but a big difference is it will be played inside a four-walled court, where the opponents will stand on the same end and will have to hit the wall in front of them to exchange the rallies.
The World Open Squash Championships has been played since the 1970s. But it has been constantly rejected by the IOC in the past due to several reasons. The sport is also popular across the world and finally its bid to make it to the Olympics is set to be a reality.
Also Read: It’s official! IOC approves Cricket’s return to Olympics after 128 years
Flag Football
Flag Football is just a variant of the American football. Just like football, the aim of the sport is to advance and enter into the opposition’s defensive endzone and score a touchdown.
Each team has four attempts to reach the halfway line. If the half-line is reached successfully, they have another four downs to reach the endzone and score.
Here contact between the players is not allowed. Instead every player will be having three flags attached to their belts – two on the sides and one at the back. The opposing team needs to pull one or both of their flags off to successfully tackle.
Play will be stopped if either a flag is removed or the ball hits the ground. If this happens, the opposing team will get a chance to attempt at reaching the opposition’s defensive end.
There is also a scoring system in the sport. Every touchdown scored by a team is worth six points, teams can also go for extra point by running or passing from the five-yard line. They will get two points if the do so from the 10-yard line.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse last appeared in the Olympics way back in 1948 as a demonstration sport. Prior to that, it was a competitive sport at the 1908 Olympics. is a contact sport that is played with a stick and a ball.
It is a contact sport and players use the head of the lacrosse stick to carry, pass, catch, and shoot the ball into the goal. A team comprises 10 players each that includes a goal-keeper. The regulation playing time of a game is 60 minutes, divided into four periods of 15 minutes each.
Baseball and softball
Baseball made a return for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However it will not feature in the 2024 Olympics and is set to make a return in 2028. Baseball finding a place in an Olympics hosted by the USA comes as no surprise. It is one prominent sport in North America.
Softball meanwhile made its debut in the 1992 Olympics. It was part of the multii-nation event till 2008. After missing the net two editions, the sport made a comeback in Tokyo 2023, before eventually failing to make the cut in 2024.
Both the sport has several similarities. While the baseball is played with a hardball, softball uses a much smaller and a soft one. Basebal is also a bit longer in duration than the softball. The former lasts nine innings while the latter will have only seven innings.
Editors pick
