Spanish Olympic skateboarder Danny León performed a jump as a solar eclipse occurred, timing the trick with the moon passing in front of the sun. León shared the iconic stunt on his social media accounts and called it ‘the move of his life.’
Published On 13 Aug 202613 Aug 2026
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Forget high prices or website glitches. With more than 12 million people registering for 2028 Olympics tickets, even getting a chance to browse the ticket shelves was hard to come by.
If you’re still stuck on the outside looking in after two unsuccessful ticket lottery drawings, there is hope.
LA28 said in a statement Friday that more opportunities to buy Olympic tickets will come in 2027, including the first first-come, first-served ticket sales.
The first two ticket drops this year drew historic interest, with fans from more than 200 countries registering. LA28 sold 4 million tickets in its first drop in April, and time slot notifications hit inboxes Wednesday and Thursday for Drop 2, which lasts from Aug. 10-20. The 48-hour purchasing windows were granted through random lottery, but even a guaranteed slot to purchase didn’t prevent headaches as the ticketing system was fraught with technical glitches and high website traffic.
The next year will bring significant movement in the Games ticketing process as Olympic sales continue, Paralympic tickets are made available for the first time and the official ticket resale platform opens.
Fans who have already registered for Olympic tickets are automatically entered into the Paralympic ticket process, which will begin with the same draw system that started the Olympic ticketing process. The Paralympics, which will come to L.A. for the first time, open on Aug. 15, 2028, at SoFi Stadium and close on Aug. 27 at the Coliseum.
AXS and Eventim are LA28’s official secondary ticket marketplace, and other verified resale platforms will include Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets. The secondary market allows fans to re-sell their tickets, potentially opening chances to see sold-through or popular sports, but the prices could fluctuate drastically. Secondary ticket resale prices will not be capped, LA28 said in a statement, as the organization’s ticket process “will follow federal law and regulations.”
Ticket prices stayed consistent between the first and second drops. LA28 said it would not use dynamic pricing for the early stages of ticketing, but prices could change as the Games get closer.
LA28 expects to sell 14 million tickets between the Olympics and Paralympics, which would break a sales record, eclipsing the 12 million tickets sold for Paris 2024 Games.
OLYMPIC hero Adam Ramsay-Peaty wants to reconcile with his estranged family following their bitter bust-up.
Adam, 31, who is married to telly chef Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Holly, 26, said: “For me, as a Christian, there has to be forgiveness.”
He added, however, that he needs to feel his family have “improved as people” before they can make up.
The fall-out started in 2024 after a row over engagement party invites.
Adam’s mum Caroline, his brothers and aunt were then barred from his and Holly’s December wedding.
The tearful star blamed the feud in part for his poor performance in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which end today.
Triple Olympic champion Adam got two individual bronzes and a silver in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.
He told The Guardian: “It’s hard because I know how hard I’ve worked.
“I know the s**t I’ve been through, which is no fault of my own. It does take a toll.”
Holly, expecting her first child with Adam, who has a son from a previous relationship, said online: “It’s not been an easy journey . . . we will keep going, through the good and the bad together.”
Adam vowed to get back to his best for the 2028 LA Olympics and to shake off his Commonwealth Games experience “very quickly”.
Meanwhile, Caroline, 60, from Uttoxeter, Staffs, said she will “always support” her son “from afar”.
Growing up in Inglewood, Andrew Hernandez heard plenty about the Olympics. Since L.A. was awarded the Games almost a decade ago, the 18-year-old watched preparations slowly improve the infrastructure of his hometown. He still never thought he would ever be able to attend.
Until now.
LA28 and the Rams donated 1,000 free tickets to 10 nonprofit organizations Monday, giving local youth such as Hernandez a seat at Olympic flag football or swimming competitions in 2028.
The tickets are the first gifts from LA28’s community ticket program, which launched in November with a $5 million inaugural donation from the Rams. When Rams coach Sean McVay delivered the news to members of the nonprofits at Rams training camp Monday, kids’ jaws dropped as the group broke into applause.
Hernandez, a member of South L.A.-based Brotherhood Crusade, posed in the group behind a giant commemorative Olympic ticket.
“Having grown up in Inglewood, you don’t really have the funds to [go to sporting events],” Hernandez said. “So if it wasn’t for programs like this or the Rams giving out tickets, a person like me, I would have never had imagined I’d be in a stadium watching the game. It’s opened my eyes.”
In addition to Brotherhood Crusade, A Place Called Home, After School All-Stars, Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro L.A., Heart of Los Angeles, Project Blue, Social Justice Learning Institute, Swim Up Hill and YMCA of Metro L.A. were selected by the Rams and LA28 for their investment in local youth and their presence in communities near Olympic venues.
“The local organizations receiving these tickets today are groups that we work closely with year-round to uplift and support our neighbors all across the Los Angeles region,” Rams president Kevin Demoff said in a statement. “This investment ensures that the people and nonprofits that commit themselves to Los Angeles are able to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event right in their hometown.”
The Boys & Girls Club Metro L.A. started increasing awareness about the Games about three years ago. Members, ranging from 6 to 18 years old, participated in youth Olympic events and met Olympic and Paralympic athletes. But as excitement for the Games grew, many kids were already saying they couldn’t afford to go. They asked Kim Washington, the club’s vice president of philanthropy and marketing, whether they could at least watch events on TV at the club.
“Having this opportunity to have tickets for these kids and families, it’s going to be beyond their wildest dreams,” said Washington, who volunteered in the opening ceremony at the 1984 L.A. Olympics.
Rams running back Blake Corum, left, signs a T-shirt during an L.A. Olympics ticket donation ceremony at Rams training camp on Monday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Each organization will distribute tickets directly to members. The donated tickets are for two of the most in-demand Olympic sports. Flag football is making its Olympic debut and was among the new sports that sold out through its ticketing availability during the first ticket drop. Swimming, one of the marquee sports of the Summer Games, will take place in SoFi Stadium, which will be transformed into the largest Olympic swimming venue in history.
Paralympic swimmer Jamal Hill founded Swim Up Hill with a goal to teach underprivileged children how to swim. The 2021 bronze medalist primarily works with second to fourth-graders, with a significant number coming from the L.A. Unified School District. Some have already voiced ambitions to become Olympians or Paralympians.
“You see something happen, something that you consider magnificent or magical … it says, ‘Wow, now I want to do this,’” Hill said. “Whether or not you end up doing that, it puts you on a path of just thinking bigger, going above and beyond, having the incentive of self-driven goals that just ultimately build better community members.”
After selling a record 4 million tickets in the first drop this year, Olympic tickets go back on sale this week. Fans who registered for the ticket lottery with a Visa credit card received information Monday about time slots to purchase tickets during the Visa presale that runs July 29-31. Email notifications for time slots in the second drop that begins Aug. 10 and lasts until Aug. 20 will hit inboxes between Aug. 6-7.
When Olympic tickets went on sale in April, fans were shocked and frustrated at high prices, a 24% service fee and limited availability for key events. LA28 has tried to keep tickets affordable, but hearing that nearly half of the tickets are under $200, including the service fee, and 75% are under $400 is still a steep price for many fans. Half of the 1 million tickets priced at $28 were scooped up during the locals presale in April, but more will be made available in the next drop.
Individuals, organizations and community leaders interested in participating in LA28’s community ticket program can access more information at la28.org. The Rams’ initial $5-million donation is expected to fund several more ticket donations to local organizations in the coming months.
Although he grew up near SoFi Stadium, Hernandez, who will be a freshman at San José State in the fall studying civil engineering, had never attended a major live sports event until this year. Through Brotherhood Crusade, he went to a Rams game. It only made him more excited for future opportunities.
“It almost helped me with my goals,” Hernandez said. “I’m like, ‘You know what, I want to be in that space again.’ I want to be able to afford a ticket and go to games. That’s kind of why I want to go to college, want to get an engineering degree, and make sure that maybe I can take my kids one day to a Rams game. The next time the Olympics come back, I can be able to get my own ticket and go.”
The bubbly laugh. The megawatt smile.
The queen of joyful gymnastics is back.
Seven years after gaining fame as UCLA’s “perfect 10 gymnast” and 13 years since last competing at an elite level, Katelyn Ohashi has returned to gymnastics with new goals and the same outlook.
“I want to have fun with it,” Ohashi said on a video conference Thursday, less than two weeks after making her return to competitive gymnastics at the American Classic. “I want to see how far I can go with it, and how far I can push myself.”
Still only two competitive routines into her comeback, Ohashi said the idea of competing in a home Olympics at the 2028 Los Angeles Games is “a beautiful thing to think about.”
She is plotting her own path. The 29-year-old’s first elite meet since 2013 was on June 27, when she tied for third on beam and performed a floor routine with light tumbling passes. She will compete at the U.S. Classic on July 18 with hopes of qualifying for the U.S. championships, which determines the national team roster.
Katelyn Ohashi performs during the “Gold Over America Tour” at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 25, 2021.
(Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)
Competing on only beam and floor, Ohashi needs to reach 26.80 points in her routines to qualify for the national championships. The meet in August would be her first U.S. championship as a senior gymnast. Gymnasts typically make senior debuts at 16 years old. More than a decade older than some of her competitors, Ohashi can’t help but giggle at how circuitous her path has been.
“It’s really funny, also,” Ohashi said through laughter, “because, like, I’m pretty much a senior citizen.”
The deadline for a female gymnast’s Olympic dreams used to be 16 years old, Ohashi was told. But watching Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles win team gold at the Paris Olympics inspired Ohashi. The team, which also included 16-year-old Hezly Rivera, was the oldest U.S. women’s gymnastics team in the Olympics since 1952. Every gymnast who competed in the team final was in her 20s.
In 2024, the then-27-year-old Biles was the oldest U.S. female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 1952. When Ohashi recently called her longtime friend about her plan to return to elite gymnastics after a 13-year retirement, Biles “thought I was crazy,” Ohashi said.
“Which,” Ohashi continued, “most people, I think, might.”
Ohashi has nothing left to prove. In her first senior international competition at 15, she beat Biles for the 2013 American Cup all-around crown — the last time Biles lost an all-around title. After injuries derailed her promising elite career and the sport’s abusive culture robbed her of her joy, Ohashi reached superstar status while rediscovering her love of the sport with UCLA. She won a team NCAA title and the floor individual title in 2018. As a senior, her perfect 10 floor routine garnered 500 million views, landed her in Rolling Stone magazine and drew sold-out crowds to almost all of UCLA’s meets.
Since her final college routine in 2019, Ohashi was loving her retired athlete life. She did speaking appearances, traveled and published a book of her poetry. She enjoyed all the time and freedom she had.
She still missed the gym.
“I have not been able to replicate the feeling or the joy, sensations, adrenaline that gymnastics or competing brings,” Ohashi said.
Staying connected in the sport by participating in Biles’ “Gold Over America Tour” in 2021 and 2024, Ohashi would often joke of a comeback. Calculating her age and looking toward an Olympics in the city that helped her fall in love with gymnastics again, Ohashi knew that if the joke was ever going to become real, it had to be soon.
So Ohashi started working with a personal trainer, lifting weights for three hours a day for four days a week. In January, she moved back to her hometown of Seattle, in part to be closer to her family, and started training with Cale Robinson at Pacific Reign Gymnastics in Woodinville, Wash.
Most skills came back seamlessly, even ones she hadn’t executed in competition since she was 16. The first month felt great. Then fatigue started setting in. Ohashi loved that challenge.
Former UCLA star gymnast Katelyn Ohashi performs during the “Gold Over America Tour” at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 25, 2021.
(Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)
Because Ohashi, who suffered a back fracture and injuries to both shoulders during her elite career, can’t do as many reps as she did as a teenager, she makes each one count more now. Between training her upgraded skills, she focuses on conditioning and religiously attends physical therapy sessions.
Still early in her comeback, Ohashi said she’s “physically getting there.” She is mentally stronger than ever.
“There are still those hard days, but it’s a lot easier when I know that I’m doing it for me, and me only,” Ohashi said. “And only I can push myself on those days.”
Ohashi wants to push past the baseline she set at the American Classic, where her two-event total was 24.65 points. The meet, which was staged in a gym with one set of bleachers and fans sitting on mats, was an intimate warm up for the arena stage Ohashi will take at the U.S. Classic in Hartford, Conn.
Ohashi walked into her first elite meet in 13 years next to Carey, who, at 26, is trying for her third Olympics. Entering the gym, Ohashi giggled that so many of the judges from a decade ago were still there. She recognized so many coaches. She was greeting everyone and waving. Carey looked at her in shock and asked what she was doing.
She was just having fun.
Six-time Olympic medallist Suni Lee has announced she is coming back to gymnastics after not competing since the 2024 Olympics.
The 23-year-old took team gold with the USA in Paris along with all-around and uneven bars bronzes.
She claimed all-around gold, team silver and uneven bars bronze at Tokyo 2020.
Lee’s return, revealed in a video on Instagram,, external comes two years before the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
Commenting “I’m back”, she said in a voiceover: “I know what I’m capable of. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Back in the gym. We’ll see.”
The video ends with the words: “This is more than a comeback, stay tuned.”
Fellow American Jade Carey, who also won medals in Tokyo and Paris, recently made her comeback after a similar break.
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced felony charges against a former Olympic athlete for allegedly harming the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
At a news conference on Thursday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro accused professional canoeist David Hearn, 67, of deliberately vandalising the pool.
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“Today, a grand jury has returned a felony indictment against a defendant, David Hearn, for felony destruction of property, for which he faces 10 years in prison,” Pirro, a Trump appointee, said.
She proceeded to call the destruction of national monuments “one of the most offensive images” she has ever seen.
“This unchecked vandalism and civil disorder turns into criminal behaviour, and that’s why we’re here today,” Pirro said. “They are an affront to the dignity of our shared history.”
But in media interviews, Hearn has denied any vandalism, saying that, like many Americans, he was simply curious about the Reflecting Pool when he visited on June 19.
The Reflecting Pool had been the subject of a renovation effort Trump began in April, as part of a wider initiative to reshape Washington, DC, through controversial construction and maintenance projects.
Trump awarded a no-bid contract to a firm to seal and resurface the granite pool in a colour he dubbed “American flag blue”. But observers noted that, as soon as the pool reopened in early June, it suffered an algae bloom, and blue paint began to peel from its bottom.
Faced with criticism about the $13.1m renovation contract, Trump countered that vandals had sabotaged the Reflecting Pool.
At least seven people, including Hearn, have been arrested on allegations they may have harmed the pool’s blue-painted bottom.
Hearn has maintained his innocence. He says he was cycling by the Reflecting Pool when he stopped to look at the peeling paint, and he reached in the water to feel it. He denies removing any part of the pool.
Pirro, however, described a different scene. She said National Park Service employees observed Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands”, damaging roughly 2 square feet — or around 0.18 square meters — of pool sealant.
“A parks employee actually told Hearn to stop his behaviour and stop what he was doing. Hearn reacted by shouting at that parks employee,” Pirro alleged.
Reporters confronted Pirro with questions about whether charging Hearn with a felony was disproportionately punitive, since similar cases have been considered misdemeanour offences.
One journalist asked Pirro if her decision to seek a felony indictment was influenced by Trump, who wrote on Truth Social that a 10-year prison sentence should “be fully enforced” for any attempted damage to the Reflecting Pool.
“I didn’t charge anything harshly. I charge according to the evidence,” Pirro replied. She argued that Hearn caused damage exceeding $1,000, thereby necessitating a felony charge.
She also dismissed comparisons with the millions of dollars in damage caused by Trump supporters during the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Nearly all of those defendants were pardoned on the first day of Trump’s second term.
“Are you really talking about January 6th? I’m not,” Pirro told one reporter. A hearing in Hearn’s case is scheduled for July 9.
On Thursday, preparations for the July 4 fireworks show began at the Reflecting Pool, with large nets spread across the entire structure.
According to a police officer on the site, the nets are intended to catch the debris that could fall into the pool during the show. The site remains fenced off to visitors.
Still, many have come to look at the pool and see the controversial renovations firsthand.
Brian Williams, a 31-year-old from Roscoe, Georgia, praised Trump for his efforts to beautify the city. He said that algae was normal for a pool full of still water in the heat of summertime.
“I don’t think people have any business vandalising anything,” Williams added. “If you have something that you dislike about the president, don’t take it out on the people’s pool.”
But others were more sceptical of Trump’s claims. Jon Delgado, a 40-year-old Navy veteran from Collierville, Tennessee, expressed frustration at seeing the Reflecting Pool in its current state.
“I came here with my wife and my family to show them the beauty of America, the spirit of what we fought for,” he said. “To see it trashed like this, it just makes me angry.”
Delgado called Trump’s accusations about vandalism at the site “really crazy”.
“We have just got to ask ourselves: Is this where we’re at, in the state of America, that we’re believing something like this? You can look for yourself: This thing has pond scum all in it, and it stinks. There’s no vandalism,” he said.
Los Angeles officials have reached a tentative agreement with organizers of the 2028 Olympic Games laying out the process for reimbursing the city for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in public services.
The agreement, which still needs approval from Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council, would require the privately run Olympic organizing committee LA28 to provide the city with funding in advance to cover services that are ineligible for reimbursement from the federal government, such as traffic control and trash pickup.
The two parties would take a somewhat different approach for police protection at high-security venues. Under the proposed arrangement, the city would seek reimbursement from the federal government for security costs at those locations, said City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, the city’s top negotiator.
If the federal government does not provide full reimbursement for those security costs, the city would seek to tap LA28’s contingency funds to cover the difference, Szabo said.
“This deal ensures the 2028 Games will have the City services needed to be safe and successful, while protecting the taxpayers from footing the bill,” he said in a statement.
Paul Krekorian, executive director for Bass’ Office of Major Events, praised the agreement.
“Mayor Bass’ priority is that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games be fiscally responsible, protect taxpayers, and benefit Angelenos for decades to come,” he said. “This agreement helps deliver that commitment.”
Negotiations between the city and LA28 have played out behind closed doors over the last year, even as critics have grown increasingly vocal about the potential for taxpayers to be saddled with huge payouts if the Games fail to generate a profit. If organizers experience significant losses, the city would be on the hook for the first $270 million and possibly more after that.
Szabo acknowledged that under that scenario, the city would be far less likely to recoup all of its security costs if the federal government failed to provide full reimbursement.
Under an agreement finalized in 2021, the organizing committee must reimburse the city for any services that go beyond what would be provided on a normal day at a variety of locations, including parts of downtown L.A., Exposition Park, Venice and elsewhere.
President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” included $1 billion for security, planning and other costs associated with the Olympics. Nevertheless, some elected officials have voiced fears that money might not materialize once the Games are over, or that the city’s security expenses could exceed that amount.
The tentative deal, known as an Enhanced City Resources Master Agreement, goes before the council’s ad hoc committee on the Olympic Games on Tuesday, then to the full council.
Even with the agreement, many of the details surrounding taxpayer services during the Olympics and Paralympics will remain unresolved for at least a year.
The two sides still have to finalize agreements spelling out the services that will be provided at each venue by July 2027. They also must agree on the cost of those services by Oct. 31 of the same year.
According to a summary of the agreement released by the city Friday, Los Angeles World Airports, the Port of Los Angeles and the Department of Water and Power would need to enter into their own service agreements with LA28.
LA28 and the city were supposed to have a tentative agreement in place last fall. The negotiations dragged out for an additional nine months, in large part because of the “inherent complexity of the 2028 Games,” Szabo said in a memo he co-wrote with Sharon Tso, the city’s chief legislative analyst.
Under the terms of the 2021 agreement, LA28 must create a $270-million contingency fund that can be distributed as a surplus if the Games make money, or be used to cover any losses in the event of a shortfall.
The proposal unveiled Friday calls for the five-year-old agreement to be amended to ensure that those contingency funds can be used to cover the city’s costs in the event that other revenue is not enough to pay for certain city services provided during the Games.
The money from that contingency fund would be distributed to the city only after LA28 covers its own costs, according to the city’s summary.
If LA28 does make money, it would not be allowed to distribute its surplus funds to any other organization until after it has covered its financial obligations to the city, according to the tentative agreement.
Jacie Prieto Lopez, LA28’s vice president of communications and public affairs, said in a statement that her organization is pleased to forward the agreement to the council for consideration.
“We proudly stand behind this agreement which delivers on our commitment to execute a safe, secure, and fiscally responsible Games that benefits Los Angeles for decades to come,” she said.
Olympic medallist Jenny Simpson is making “encouraging improvement” in hospital after collapsing at an event in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The 39-year-old American was pacing a mile group at a Sir Walter Miler pop-up event on Tuesday when she reportedly collapsed and needed CPR.
Her employer Fleet Feet says she is recovering well.
They said, external: “Jenny received immediate medical attention and was transported to a nearby hospital. Fleet Feet CEO Joey Pointer was also at the event, and stayed with Jenny at the hospital throughout the night as her family traveled to be with her early Wednesday morning.
“While Jenny remains under medical care, she has shown encouraging improvement and continues to exhibit the strength and resilience that have long defined her.
“True to form, she has already asked about her mile time and whether she won.”
Simpson, who retired from competitive running at the end of the 2024 season, won gold in the 1500m at the 2011 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Simpson also won silver medals in the 1500m at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships.
Three-time U.S. Olympian Jenny Simpson collapsed during a community running event Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C., and still is receiving medical treatment a day later.
There are few available details about what happened to the 39-year-old retired athlete who won a bronze medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics, or what her condition is. The incident occurred during a weekly gathering for local running enthusiasts at which Simpson served as the pace runner for a mile group.
At some point during the event, Simpson suffered what organizer Sir Walter Running described as a “medical incident.” She had no pulse for a brief period, according to media outlets, but it was restored with CPR and an automated external defibrillator at the track. Simpson was then taken to a local hospital.
“We are incredibly grateful to the individuals who responded immediately, as well as EMS and the medical professionals who handled the situation with such care, urgency, and professionalism,” Sir Walter Running said in a statement. “Jenny is receiving excellent medical care, and our thoughts are with her and her family.”
No further details have been released.
“We ask that you continue to continue to keep Jenny and her family in your prayers as we all hope for the very best,” the running group said.
An eight-time state champion (five in track and field, three in cross-country) at Oviedo High School in Florida, Simpson went on to star at Colorado as a two-time national steeplechase champion, a two-time national runner-up in cross-country and a three-time outdoor track and field All-American.
In addition to representing the U.S. at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Simpson was the 2011 world champion in the 1,500 and finished second in 2013 and 2017. She also was the 2014 Diamond League champion in the same event.
Upon her retirement in 2024, Simpson and her husband, Jason, spent a year traveling in their 23-foot Winnebago Ekko motorhome and running with community members at events across the country. This year, Simpson was named Fleet Feet’s chief running officer and joined FloTrack’s broadcast team for Diamond League recaps.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The city witnessed Carl Lewis win four Olympic gold medals, cheered Valerie Brisco-Hooks’ historic golden double and watched Edwin Moses extend his 400-meter hurdles unbeaten streak. L.A. has history with track and field.
Now when Ato Boldon, a UCLA Hall of Famer and four-time Olympic medalist for Trinidad and Tobago, looks to this weekend’s L.A. Grand Prix and the city’s future with the sport, he wonders what it holds.
“I’ve always felt like L.A. needs a signature event,” Boldon said, “and with the Olympics coming up in two years, you look at the quality of this event this weekend, and you’re like, yeah, this is the kind of meet they should have all the time.”
At the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennium, the USA Track & Field event serves as an important checkpoint for the sport’s hope to break out of the four-year popularity cycle.
The two-day event, which begins Saturday with the women’s hammer throw at the South Bay Athletic Club, features 18 Olympic or world champions competing primarily at USC’s Allyson Felix Field. Sunday’s marquee competition beginning at 1 p.m. will be televised on NBC.
With USA Track & Field building toward a home Olympics, L.A. has been a critical but stubborn market to conquer. Last year’s L.A. Grand Prix, which would have been the third edition of the meet, was canceled in April. The decision, USA Track & Field Chief Executive Max Siegel said, came down to another meet scheduled in the same venue within the same month.
But that competing event, part of Michael Johnson’s upstart Grand Slam Track league, was canceled only weeks before it was set to take place at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, leaving L.A. without a major track competition last summer.
“We knew last year when we canceled the meet that we had every intention leading up to the Olympics to be present in the L.A. market,” Siegel said.
The city knows great track. UCLA boasts legends such as Rafer Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith-Joyner. USC, which boasts more Olympians than any other U.S. university, had athletes win nine Olympic medals in track and field at the 2024 Games in Paris, including double gold medals for Rai Benjamin in the 400-meter hurdles and 4×400-meter relay and a 4×100-meter relay championship for TeeTee Terry.
After Terry ran the second leg of the relay, Sha’Carri Richardson’s stare down at the end of her anchor leg became one of the iconic shots of the Paris Games, where 70,000 people packed Stade de France and millions more tuned in for one of the most-watched Olympics.
But the sport is back in the shadows like it always seems to be outside of Olympic years, said Boldon, now NBC Sports’ track and field analyst. There have been several attempts to penetrate the U.S. sports consciousness since the successful Paris Games. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian launched Athlos, a women’s track and field meet that began in New York City in 2024 and added a stop in London to its 2026 schedule. Grand Slam Track, founded by the Olympic legend Johnson and touting major names including Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, filed for bankruptcy last year, after completing only three of four planned events in its first season, and is only now emerging from it.
This year’s inaugural USATF Tour aims to organize the fragmented sport by streamlining the calendar and working with existing event coordinators to provide resources, including prize money and travel for top athletes, marketing and drug testing. The tour, which was in College Station, Texas, last week for the Lone Star Grand Prix, has 17 events in 10 states.
American Tara Davis-Woodhall after winning the women’s long jump at the 2025 world championships in Tokyo.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
“I feel like LA28 gives the country something to organize around,” said Siegel, who hopes track and field can rise to be among the five most popular sports in the United States. “People are paying more attention to athlete stories in anticipation of what’s going to happen on U.S. soil.”
There is no shortage of stories at the L.A. Grand Prix. Almost everyone who matters in American track and field will be there, Boldon said. Kenny Bednarek, the silver medalist in the 200 meters in Paris, will line up in the 100 meters against Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who took gold in the 200 in 2024.
Tara Davis-Woodhall, the reigning Olympic long jump champion, will compete in her signature event and race in the 100-meter hurdles for just the second time in the last five years. Her husband, Hunter Woodhall, will race in the 400 meters on Saturday, when Para athletes will be among those competing in the L.A. Distance Classic at Allyson Felix Field.
Richardson will run her first 100-meter race of the season. The 2024 Olympic silver medalist could be in line to end a three-decade gold medal drought in 2028. No U.S. woman has stood atop an Olympic podium for the 100 since 1996, when Gail Devers won in Atlanta.
Such a stacked field outside of an Olympic year on U.S. soil could be a sign of a changing tide for track and field, Boldon said. The L.A. Grand Prix is a gold-level event on the World Athletics Continental Tour, the second-highest tier of single-day international competition. As athletes vie for world ranking points, the event could be a true Olympic preview two years before the Games begin at the Coliseum.
“This,” Boldon said, “is not a normal week in our sport.”
THE premise was sound, I still insist. Whisking sociable teens Reggie and Stanley away from distractions in the run-up to their A-levels and GCSEs for a week of intense relaxation and revision.
And so we headed to Tui’s Magic Life Jacaranda beach-front complex in Antalya, the jewel of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
I realised my “no distractions” argument was a mistake as soon as the boys’ jaws dropped when we rolled up outside the stunning, marble-floored hotel and glimpsed our new home for the week.
We might as well have checked into Alton Towers, or Chessington World of Adventures.
Only those popular family theme parks don’t boast 5H opulence, eight swimming pools, a thrilling aqua park, sandy beach, huge buffet diner and six à la carte restaurants.
And for sports-mad youngsters, the complex — the size of 18 football pitches — boasts a gobsmacking array of facilities which makes it feel like you’re living in an Olympic Village.
From tennis, beach volleyball, basketball, badminton and table tennis, to football, archery, darts and cycling, there’s something for everyone.
The hotel puts on daily group sessions and courses, with expert coaches on hand if guests want to pay for extra tuition.
There’s also canoeing or windsurfing, catamaran sailing, water-skiing or wakeboarding off the “Turquoise Coast”, aptly named for its stunning blue waters.
A well-equipped gym is open for more than 12 hours a day — a dream for an 18-year-old and 15-year-old needing to let off steam between hitting the books.
There’s a big indoor pool and spa offering treatments, while classes can also be booked for zumba, Pilates, yoga, aqua aerobics, spin cycling, shuffleboard and trampolining.
And dedicated kids’ and teens’ clubs leave parents free to soak up the sun.
With the boys finding a window between the fun activities to do some revision, I tried out the “abs-blast workout”.
Despite the language barrier between the different nationalities, we were united in grunting and groaning as we were put through our paces in an outdoor fitness hut overlooking the sea.
Meanwhile, the Nordic walking class had a dozen intrepid guests gripping poles and striding off down the beach for a 45-minute cardio-busting thrashing.
Teenagers love their food — and with so many activities going on it’s easy to work up an appetite.
The main buffet was a dream for Reggie and Stan, with chefs rotating special cuisine nights including Turkish, Italian or Tex-Mex.
The fresh salads were incredible and cooks prepared pasta, grilled meats and flatbreads while we waited, mouths salivating.
With breakfast from 7am till 11am, lunch from 12.30 till 4pm, and dinner stretching from 6.30pm till 9pm, it’s hard to imagine ever feeling hungry.
But a coffee house, beach and pool bars offer snacks all day, and the dedicated Wunderbar opens 24 hours, providing drinks and food to insomniac guests.
It’s tempting not to leave the complex. But for guests choosing a break from the idyllic swimming pools, there are day trips offering a chance to learn some of Turkey’s incredible history.
I chose a half-day trip to the nearby ancient port city of Side and its 1,400-year-old ruins.
There’s a huge Roman amphitheatre which used to seat 20,000 locals cheering on gladiators, while the 2nd-century seafront shrines, the Temples of Apollo and Athena, were simply awesome.
Strolling through the modern-day Side, stopping to browse the bazaars selling sizzling kebabs and chunks of delicious Turkish Delight, we stepped on glass walkways, revealing the ancient Roman streets below.
Back at the hotel, the rooms are airy, bright and comfortable.
The vast, five-floor main building offers beds close to the buffet and gym, and glorious views across the sprawling complex.
Smaller, quieter rooms are available, spread throughout the gardens and closer to the gorgeous beach.
Some lucky guests can even opt for “swim-up” apartments, with a balcony stepping into one of the many shared pools.
The staff are friendly and happy to help.
A huge amphitheatre hosts professional shows at night, as well as movie nights and live music.
There are also themed parties and discos on site, and an indoor nightclub for guests wanting to boogie into the early hours.
Magic Life Jacaranda offers a classic “something for everyone” heavenly holiday — even for youngsters preparing for exams.
What the boys missed out on study hours, they more than made up for in memories that will last a lifetime.
Like most guests who have been lucky enough to experience this perfect holiday destination in southern Turkey — boasting blazing sun for more than 300 days a year — we’ll be returning as soon as possible.
GETTING/STAYING THERE: Seven nights’ all-inclusive at the 4T+ Tui Magic Life Jacaranda is from £714pp based on two adults and two children sharing a Lake House double room with pool view and balcony.
Price includes flights from Gatwick on September 17, 20kg luggage and transfers.
See tui.co.uk, head to your local TUI holiday store or download our app.
