LA28 released the detailed daily competition schedule for the biggest Olympics in history on Wednesday, laying out every event for the 19 days of competition that will feature more than 11,000 athletes across 51 sports.
Along with being the largest in Games history, the 2028 Summer Olympics will be the first to include more female athletes than men. The schedule honors the historic moment for women in sports by showcasing the women’s 100-meter final at the Coliseum as the primetime, marquee event on the first official day of competition on July 15, 2028.
“The reason we’re throwing out the women’s 100 meters on the first day is because we want to come on these Games with a bang,” Shana Ferguson, LA28’s chief of sport and head of Games delivery, said on a conference call. “And likely that race will be among the most watched of all the races in the Games. We just want to start that Day 1 with a massive, massive showcase of the fastest females in the world.”
The women’s 100-meter final will punctuate Day 1 competition that will feature eight women’s finals, the most for a single day at the Olympics. The men’s 100-meter final will follow on Day 2.
Scheduling the women’s final on Day 1 will require the top athletes to run up to three, 100-meter races in one day as opposed to putting qualifying on a separate day as the semifinals and finals. Olympic organizers presented the idea to athlete commissions within LA28 and through World Athletics. While some preferred to keep the status quo for the women’s 100 meter, Janet Evans, LA28’s chief athlete officer, said the majority of competitors simply wanted to know when their races would be so they could plan their training accordingly.
“I think a lot of athletes will be looking immediately at the schedule and planning their training around it,” said Evans, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming. “That was certainly top of mind as we made this decision.”
Making the schedule came with extensive consultation with athletes and international sport federations. Organizers considered the sun position for diving, which will be held outdoors at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. They wanted to ensure that fans waiting to enter arenas wouldn’t be left in the sun during a mid-day competition. Weary of heat affecting horses in Santa Anita, they took care to schedule equestrian events for either early morning or evening sessions.
With track and field setting the stage in the first week, swimming competitions traditionally take place first were shifted to the second week to allow organizers to build an indoor swimming pool in SoFi Stadium after the venue helps host the opening ceremony on July 14.
But keeping with Olympic tradition, the marathon will still take place on the final weekend of the Games, with the women running at Venice Beach on Day 15 (July 29), and the men competing on Day 16 (July 30). As one of the final Olympic events, marathon medalists typically receive their medals during the closing ceremony, which will take place at the Coliseum on July 30, beginning at 6 p.m.
The 2028 Games are approaching major checkpoints with less than three years until the opening ceremony. The Paralympic competition schedule will be released later this year. The volunteer program has already opened for community opportunities while applications for Games time volunteers will open in summer of 2026. Olympics ticket registration will open in January 2026.
Fans can begin registering for the ticket lottery in January and purchasing windows for those who are selected in the lottery will begin in spring 2026. Prices start at $28. With concerns about sky-high ticket prices for sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup or the World Series, Ferguson said LA28 will not use dynamic pricing, but didn’t state any specifics about the prices.
Ferguson said the organizing committee has 14 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, which would break the ticket record set by Paris 2024. The biggest Olympics, and the most jam-packed schedule, would warrant that kind of attendance.
“What a great responsibility that is for us,” Ferguson said of hosting the biggest Olympics in history. “The care and concern that went into building this competition schedule — I will tell you that the folks on the team who did it really, truly, had a lot of sleepless nights because they wanted to get this right for every single athlete, regardless of sport.”
LA28 competition dates
Opening Ceremony: July 14
3×3 Basketball: July 17-22,
Archery: July 21-28
Artistic Gymnastics: July 15-25
Artistic Swimming: July 25-29
Athletics: July 15-30
Badminton: July 15-24
Baseball: July 13-19
Basketball: July 12-30
Beach Volleyball: July 15-29
BMX Freestyle: July 28-29
BMX Racing: July 15-16
Boxing: July 15-30
Canoe Slalom: July 14-22
Canoe Sprint: July 25-29
Cricket: July 12-29
Cycling Road: July 19-23
Cycling Track: July 25-30
Diving: July 25-30
Equestrian: July 15-29
Fencing: July 15-23
Flag Football: July 15-22
Football (Soccer): July 12-29
Golf: July 19-29
Handball: July 12-28
Hockey (Field): July 12-29
Judo: July 15-22
Lacrosse: July 24-29
Modern Pentathlon: July 15-18
Mountain Bike: July 15-18
Open Water Swimming: July 17-18
Rhythmic Gymnastics: July 27-29
Rowing: July 15-22
Rowing Coastal Beach Sprints: July 24-25
Rugby Sevens: July 12-18
Sailing: July 16-28
Shooting: July 15-25
Skateboarding: July 18-27
Softball: July 23-29
Sport Climbing: July 24-29
Squash: July 15-24
Surfing: July 15-23
Swimming: July 22-30
Table Tennis: July 22-30
Taekwondo: July 26-29
Tennis: July 19-28
Trampoline Gymnastics: July 21
Triathlon: July 15-20
Volleyball: July 15-30
Water Polo: July 12-23
Weightlifting: July 25-29
Wrestling: July 24-30
Closing Ceremony: July 30