The proposal that The Los Angeles 2028 Games will include baseball/softball, cricket, lacrosse, squash and flag football (‘tocho’) in their program, formed by the organizing committee, would prolong the malaise of successive admissions and exclusions suffered by the former, would allow the latter two to debut as Olympians and would return cricket and lacrosse to the Games by more than a century after their last appearance.
The list should be validated by the IOC Executive Commissionwhich will meet starting this Thursday in Bombay (India) and will then be subject to the approval of the Session of the body, which will be inaugurated in the same city next Sunday.
Additional sports will be added to the main core of the programwhich currently consists of athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, canoeing, cycling, horse riding, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, wrestling, swimming, rugby, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, shooting archery , triathlon, sailing, volleyball, surfing, skateboarding and climbing.
Baseball, returned to the program after being excluded twice
If the IOC accepts the proposal in Los Angeles, baseball will be Olympic again after being remodeled for the 2012 and 2016 Gamesre-entered for 2020 and again excluded in 2024.
The young Olympic history of this sport was born in Barcelona’92 and it is constantly entering and exiting the program.
The solution to the merger of the international federations of baseball and softballto place them in the Games as a single sport (baseball for men and softball for women), has also not developed the desired stability.
The main obstacle for baseball to establish itself as an Olympic sport in the past was the impossibility of guaranteeing the availability of the best players at the Games, Major League professionals.
“The combination of baseball and softball (in proposal) It is a testament to the global appeal of our sports, which has been made possible through continued collaboration with all stakeholders, including professional leagues. We are sure that both will be a great success with fans in the United States and around the world.“said the international federation, assuming approval of the proposal.
Cricket and lacrosse, Olympics more than a century ago
Another batting sport, Cricket is Olympic only in one edition, Paris 1900, with a men’s competition in which only two teams participated, France and Great Britain. The island team won, which was actually the Devon & Somerset Wanderers club teamwho was elected as a national representative.
It is a sport that is very popular in the United Kingdom and the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in India, Pakistan and Australia.
The modality of the 2028 Games will be debated Twenty20with matches of a single innings and a maximum of 20 overs (an ‘over’ is six pitches). That is why the battles end in about two and a half hours, when in the classic version they would last several days.
In Spain there is no recognized federation of this sport, or of lacrosse.
Lacrosse was Olympic at the beginning of the last centuryin 1904 and 1908, with Canada victorious in both editions, first against the United States and then against Great Britain, the only participating teams.
It is considered the oldest sport practiced in North America.with origins in its natives.
Used by players a stick with a net at the end, through which they carry the ballthey pass it and throw it towards the goal.
The proposed Olympic format was also scaled down, the one with ‘sixes’, with six players per team instead of ten.
American football, in ‘tocho’ mode
The Bombay Session should give the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) its definitive recognition -he had a while- before accepting this sport, in its version of ‘flag football’ or ‘tocho’, without tackling, in the Games.
This contactless modality is considered more dynamic and cheaper. The goal of the game is to get the ball to the end zone, but to prevent the rivals from advancing you just need to remove a tape they are wearing on their hips.
Its novelty in the Olympic program will join the pumpkinpossibly the fourth racket sport after tennis, table tennis and badminton.
It is played between two opponentsthrowing the rubber ball against the wall. It can bounce only once against the ground, but can also bounce off the side or back walls.
At the 2022 European Championships Spaniard Marta Dominguez was fourth.
Karate, out again
He karatewho also requested entry as an additional sport, has once again seen its intention to repeat the Olympic experience it experienced the first and only time at Tokyo 2020 failed.
On the same day the new proposal was announced in Los Angeles, World Karatethe world federation of this sport, revealed a meeting between its president, the Spaniard Antonio Espídos, and the member of the IOC, Zaiquing Yu to review the success of the Asian Games and the study of the “Olympic hopes” of karate. A few hours later, bad news came from Los Angeles.
“Unfortunately, karate is not included in the list of additional sports“Espinos reacted immediately. “Even if we did not reach our goal, the path has been one of positive development and growth and we will continue to strive to be part of the next editions of the Games (… ). “Now is the time to focus on the future.”
Other sports that have requested to be Olympic and are not included in the Los Angeles proposal are kickboxing, motor and breaking, which is in the Paris 2024 program.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
