The road to L.A. in 2028: Early predictions and bold expectations
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Alyssa Roenigk, ESPN Senior Writer
The Olympic flame has been extinguished and the flag has been passed. The incredible 2024 Paris Olympics is in the books. At home, fans vicariously enjoyed those viral chocolate muffins from the Olympic Village, watched a whale drop in on the surf contest in Tahiti and met breakout stars such as Harvard-educated fencer Lauren Scruggs and Rubik’s Cube-solving “pommel horse guy” Stephen Nedoroscik.
For 17 days in Paris, Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Noah Lyles astounded as promised, while leaving open their doors for more in four years.
That’s when the Summer Olympics return to Los Angeles for the third time — and promise to charm. Here’s our way-too-early look ahead at what to expect from the City of Angels.
On to Los Angeles
From skateboarding at the Sepulveda Basin in northern L.A. County to beach volleyball in Santa Monica to surfing at a to-be-determined break on SoCal’s Pacific coast, organizers of the 2028 L.A. Olympics promise to showcase the venues and sports that define the city. They will also like to demonstrate that L.A. is more than overcrowded freeways and the Hollywood sign.
About that: Olympic organizers promise that with improved public transit and LAX’s $400 million People Mover project, traffic — even on the 405 — won’t be an issue. If true, that might be the defining performance of the 2028 Games.
New and returning sports
Since the Tokyo Games, the International Olympic Committee has invited host cities to propose new slates of sports to include in their programs, which is how breaking broke onto the Olympic stage in Paris and how skateboarding and surfing, also approved for 2028, entered the five-ring fray in Tokyo.
Five sports will make their Olympic returns or debuts in Los Angeles, including lacrosse, which was last contested in the 1908 Olympics, and cricket, which awarded its last Olympic medal at the turn of the 20th century.
Flag football, which was added with a push from the NFL, and squash, which has come close to inclusion several times in the past 20 years, will award their first Olympic medals in L.A.
Baseball and softball, neither of which were played in Paris, make their return. Major League Baseball has said it is open to discussing potentially pausing the MLB schedule around the All-Star break to allow players to participate in the Games, a boon for the inclusion of the sport in future Games.
Softball will be held at the country’s premier softball-specific facility, an upgrade from the sport’s last appearance in Tokyo. The only downside? Softball Park is in Oklahoma City and 1,300 miles from L.A.
Stars who could be back
Simone Biles has not closed the door to returning for the L.A. Games. But she has also said, in news conferences and TikTok posts, that she has performed the final Yurchenko double pike and floor routines of her career. If she’s in Los Angeles as more than a spectator, Biles will be 31 and a medal favorite in whatever event she competes. That’s a big if, though. — Alyssa Roenigk
Skateboarder Nyjah Huston is one of the most famous, successful, influential street skaters in the world. But he’s not an Olympic gold medalist. After taking bronze in Paris, the 29-year-old posted that he came to the Games without expectations, but when he was in position to win and didn’t come through, “It hurts,” he wrote. “I wanted to bring home that gold for us so bad, more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.”
That sounds like four years’ worth of fuel. And with the Games taking place in skating’s heartland, Huston will be one of the biggest stars of the L.A. Games. — Roenigk
From the very first game against Zambia when she pulled off the move she calls a “Trin Spin,” Trinity Rodman has been in the spotlight for the U.S. women’s national soccer team. Partnering with Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, Rodman’s ability to create magic was always on display — with the highlight being her game-winning goal in extra time of the quarterfinal against Japan. That figures to still be playing on highlight reels when the L.A. Games occur. There’s no reason to believe she won’t be at the heart of the U.S. attack for years to come. — Sam Borden
Kevin Durant has said he wants to play basketball “until the wheels fall off” and he truly loves playing for the national team. He also happens to be the best male player USA Basketball has ever had because his skill set and size is ideal for the style of play. In 2028, he will be age 39 and very well could still be a real option. — Brian Windhorst
The most decorated female American Olympian of all time doesn’t want to stop now. Swimmer Katie Ledecky said she will take things year by year, but declared she’d love to compete in Los Angeles. Ledecky, who has nine Olympic golds already, will be 31 during the next Games. It would be her fifth Olympics — she debuted at 15 in London. Ledecky will look to fend off some of her toughest rivals in 2028, such as Australia’s Arianne Titmus, who is four years younger than Ledecky. — Emily Kaplan
The 22-year-old swimmer Leon Marchand from France was one of the standout performers in Paris with an astonishing four gold medals and a bronze — and it seems like he’s just getting started. In addition to the endless comparisons to Michael Phelps, Marchand has used the legendary American swimmer’s career as a blueprint and works with Phelps’ longtime coach Bob Bowman. Much like Phelps did in his career, it’s hard to think Marchand won’t continue to get even better before 2028 rolls around. — D’Arcy Maine
Prior to Paris, tennis star Novak Djokovic had never won Olympic gold in his four previous Olympic appearances. He had talked openly about how much it would mean to him, and that was evident after he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the final and openly sobbed on the court. He will be 41 during the 2028 Games, and most assumed Paris was his final Olympics, but, after the medal ceremony, he said he hoped to play in Los Angeles. If anyone could do it and continue to defy time, it has to be Djokovic. — Maine
Noah Lyles will be back in 2028 and with a vengeance. Knowing him, he has probably already started plotting what the route to his elusive sprint-triple gold can look like at those Games. Los Angeles could be his final true opportunity to make that happen. He’ll be 31, and may have to start pondering his Olympic future beyond that. After the anticlimactic end to this Olympics for Lyles with his COVID diagnosis, expect him to be on a mission in four years to put Paris — gold medal notwithstanding — fully behind him. — Coley Harvey
Mondo Duplantis broke the pole vault world record for a ninth time in Paris. It feels like he has been around forever, but he is only 24 years old. He competes for Sweden through the nationality of his parents, but he was born and raised in Louisiana. He will feel very at home in the U.S. as he would bid for a third straight Olympic title and likely even another world record. — Connor O’Halloran
Snoop Dogg is not an athlete, but you can bet he will be making a comeback in 2028, too. He has been as much of the face of these Games as any gold medalist. He fenced against Team USA’s Miles Chamley-Watson and arrived at the Palace of Versailles wearing his finest dressage gear. He even carried the Olympic torch. Paris has welcomed him with open arms. Next time, though, the Games will be in his city of Los Angeles, and it will be Snoop Dogg’s turn to welcome the world. — O’Halloran
The up-and-comers who are just getting started
Fred Richard wants to be “the greatest of all time in gymnastics,” which he said just after making the 2024 team. But just as importantly, the 20-year-old wants to grow his sport. He needs to stick around to do that. The Paris bronze medalist is already focused on 2028, when he plans to bring routines that will allow him to contend for the all-around title and use whatever podium he stands on to increase his platform, as well as interest in men’s gymnastics. — Roenigk
For years, Hezly Rivera trained with her eyes on making the 2028 Olympics, when she’ll be 20. Then a string of season-ending injuries to her top competitors and a breakthrough performance at U.S. trials catapulted the 16-year-old onto one of the most iconic U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams in history. Rivera has already proved she has the skill to compete with the best in the world and make the U.S. team. Now she’ll carry her Olympic experience into the next four years. — Roenigk
The San Diego duo of 17-year-old Gavin Bottger and 19-year Tate Carew were medal favorites in skateboard park, but left Paris without hardware. Bottger, the 2023 park world champion, finished 10th in qualifying and failed to make the final, while Carew, the No. 1-ranked park skater in the world heading into these Games, finished fifth. Both skaters will be as hungry as ever to make their second Olympic teams in Los Angeles, where skateboarding will be a marquee event. — Roenigk
In surfing, Caroline Marks, 22, is no up-and-comer. She’s the 2023 World Surf League world champion and is currently ranked No. 2. At the Paris Games, Marks won gold at Teahupoo in Tahiti, the heaviest wave in the world, and her victory tour, including a stop at the “Today Show,” flushed her into the mainstream. Four years from now and likely with more world titles to her name, Marks will be poised to return to the Olympics and defend her title. — Roenigk
There are so many up-and-coming stars in track and field. Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old 400-meter standout, headlines the list. After becoming the youngest American male track Olympian, he helped Team USA earn a gold medal in the men’s 4×400-meter relay, running the preliminary heat. Also, keep an eye on American women’s 100-meter hurdle gold medalist Masai Russell. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo also is a star on the rise after his 200-meter win over Lyles, and the way he nearly snatched gold from the U.S. men’s 4×400 relay as his team’s anchor. — Harvey
At 25, Sam Coffey is a bit of a latecomer to the U.S. national team but she’s quickly made an impact despite being a relative newbie. Coach Emma Hayes clearly values her in the critical defensive midfielder role, and Coffey has meshed easily with a team that’s having success despite being in transition. Other players have gotten more attention, but Coffey is a big part of what makes the USWNT go. — Borden
Anthony Edwards has truly enjoyed his first Olympics, going to other events and mingling with other athletes. He is already one of the best young NBA players and has been groomed to become one of the centerpieces of the program after playing in the FIBA World Cup and the Olympics the past two summers. — Windhorst
Twenty-one-year-old Lauren Scruggs became the first Black woman to medal for the United States in fencing (a silver in foil, losing to her teammate Lee Keifer in the final). Scruggs and Keifer then helped the American women to their first team gold in the event. Scruggs, a native of Queens, says she developed toughness growing up in New York. She has more to accomplish, though she hopes part of her legacy will include inspiring more Black kids to compete in the sport. — Kaplan
Summer McIntosh, 17, went from prodigy to superstar in Paris by winning three gold medals and a silver in swimming. Already the first Canadian in history to win three golds in a single Olympics in any sport, McIntosh should only get better before 2028 — and looks poised to make even more history in Los Angeles. — Maine
It seems odd to call Carlos Alcaraz, already a four-time major champion and former world No. 1, an up-and-comer, but he is only 21 and continues to improve. After he lost the gold medal match to Djokovic, he couldn’t hide his tears and shared his disappointment of not taking the gold back to Spain. It’s hard to think coming oh-so-close won’t continue to fuel him over the next four years. He will want to win gold even more in Los Angeles. — Maine
A flag bearer for the United States during the opening ceremony, 20-year-old Coco Gauff was determined to win a medal in Paris and played in all three draws (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) in hopes of achieving that goal. The reigning US Open champion was unsuccessful in that quest but it’s hard to believe she won’t be more motivated in front of an adoring home crowd in 2028. — Maine
Sam Watson, an 18-year-old speed climber from Southlake, Texas, will leave Paris with two world records but, somehow, no gold medal. He first broke the record in the elimination heats, but a slight mistake in the semifinals against China’s Wu Peng meant he had to settle for the bronze medal match. He left nothing to chance, though, setting the world record again. In L.A., he will continue the hunt for his first gold. “Just a couple millimeters of an error is really the name of the game in the sport. So no really regrets,” Watson said. “I don’t think the pressure really got to me or anything like that. I think I just made a tiny little stumble.” —O’Halloran
