Olympics

WASHINGTON — In past Olympic Games held on American soil, sitting presidents have served in passive, ceremonial roles. President Trump may have other plans.

An executive order signed by Trump on Tuesday names him chair of a White House task force on the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, viewed by the president as “a premier opportunity to showcase American exceptionalism,” according to a White House statement. Trump, the administration said, “is taking every opportunity to showcase American greatness on the world stage.”

At the White House, speaking in front of banners adding the presidential seal to the logo for LA28, Trump said he would send the military back to Los Angeles if he so chose in order to protect the Games. In June, Trump sent the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city amid widespread immigration enforcement actions, despite widespread condemnation from Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials.

“We’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including using our National Guard or military, OK?” he said. “I will use the National Guard or the military. This is going to be so safe. If we have to.”

Trump’s executive order establishes a task force led by him and Vice President JD Vance to steer federal coordination for the Games. The task force will work with federal, state and local partners on security and transportation, according to the White House.

Those roles have been fairly standard for the federal government in past U.S.-hosted Olympic Games. But Trump’s news conference could present questions about whether a president with a penchant for showmanship might assume an unusually active role in planning the Olympics, set to take place in the twilight of his final term.

There is ample precedent for military and National Guard forces providing security support during U.S.-hosted Olympic Games. But coming on the heels of the recent military deployment to Los Angeles, Trump’s comments may prove contentious.

French president Emmanuel Macron was a key figure in preparations for last year’s Paris Games, including expressing his vocal support for the ambitious Olympic opening ceremony plan to parade athletes down the Seine River on boats. Many officials were concerned about potential threats along the 3.7-mile stretch, but authorities responded by increasing security measures that included up to 45,000 police officers and 10,000 soldiers.

The task force, to be housed within the Department of Homeland Security, will “assist in the planning and implementation of visa processing and credentialing programs for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media personnel,” the executive order said. City officials have expressed concern that the president’s border policies could deter international visitors and complicate visa processing for Olympic teams.

Tensions with L.A.

More concentrated involvement from Trump could spell further strain with Los Angeles city officials, who sought to make nice in the wake of devastating January fires, but have fiercely bucked Trump’s recent immigration offensive. Trump swiped at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during his remarks on Tuesday, calling her “not very competent” and criticizing the pace of city permitting for fire rebuilding. (Bass did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Known for her coalition-building skills, Bass is not, by nature, a public brawler. In the aftermath of the Palisades fire, she appeared determined to preserve her fragile relationship with the president — and the billions of dollars of federal aid her city was depending on — responding diplomatically even as he publicly attacked her.

But that determined cordiality crumbled when masked immigration agents and military personnel descended on the city. With troops stationed in the city and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal authorities arresting undocumented immigrants at courthouses, car washes and Home Depot parking lots, Bass took on Trump forcefully.

At news conferences and in interviews, she accused the president of waging “an all-out assault on Los Angeles, inciting chaos and fear and using the city as “a test case for an extremist agenda.”

Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA28, attended the White House event, thanking Trump for “leaning in” to planning for an Olympics that was awarded to Los Angeles during his first term.

“You’ve been supportive and helpful every step of the way,” Wasserman said, noting that the Games would amount to hosting seven Super Bowls a day for 30 days. “With the creation of this task force, we’ve unlocked the opportunity to level up our planning and deliver the largest, and yes, greatest Games for our nation, ever.”

Wasserman will also have a delicate political balancing act, managing a Games in a deep-blue city with a famously mercurial Republican president in office.

President Trump holds a full set of medals from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles during Tuesday’s event at which he announced an executive order regarding federal involvement in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)

A Hollywood scion and sports and entertainment mogul, Wasserman has long been a prominent Democratic donor known for his close relationship with the Clintons.

But in recent months he has diversified his giving, with hefty donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership fund. Wasserman has publicly praised Trump’s commitment to the Games and traveled to Mar-a-Lago in January to meet with the incoming president.

Presidents have long played a role in the Games. In 1984, Ronald Reagan formally opened the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming the first American president to do so. Reagan attended several Olympic events, but repeatedly emphasized the federal government’s role was focused on security, according to the White House Historical Assn.

The Olympic Charter requires the host country’s head of state to officially open the Games, but before Reagan, the duty had been fulfilled by local political leaders or vice presidents representing the president.

Ever-tightening security

The federal government has historically provided significant funding when the Games are hosted on U.S. soil, with financial support going toward both security and infrastructure.

Leading up to the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the federal government spent $227 million on security and transportation, playing “very much a junior partner” to the Olympic Committee, then-Vice President Al Gore said at the time. Still, a bombing at the Centennial Olympic Park during the games that summer shook the security establishment.

The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were the first Games to be classified as a “National Special Security Event,” the government’s highest security rating for any event that designates the U.S. Secret Service as the lead agency for implementing security. That standard has remained in place for U.S.-held Olympic Games ever since. The Secret Service will also lead security coordination for the 2028 Games.

The federal government was particularly involved in the Salt Lake City games, which were held just months after the 9/11 attacks.

Los Angeles leaders are actively involved in the security planning, and are currently in negotiations with LA28 for the use of the city’s police, traffic officers, and other employees during the Olympics and Paralympics.

Security, trash removal, traffic control, paramedics and more will be needed during the 17-day Olympics and the two-week Paralympics the following month.

Under the 2021 Games agreement between LA28 and the city, LA28 must reimburse Los Angeles for any services that go beyond what the city would provide on a normal day. The two parties must agree by Oct. 1, 2025, on “enhanced services” — additional city services needed for the Games, beyond that normal level — and determine rates, repayment timelines, audit rights and other processes.

Overtime for Los Angeles police officers, and any other major expenses, would be acutely felt by a city government that recently closed a nearly $1-billion budget deficit, in part by slowing police hiring.

Wilner reported from Washington, Wick and Nguyen from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — President Trump will order the establishment of a White House task force on Tuesday focused on security for the Olympics Games in Los Angeles in 2028.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the president plans on creating the task force by executive order on Tuesday, telling The Times that Trump “considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle.”

“During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America’s bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles,” Leavitt said. “Sports is one of President Trump’s greatest passions, and his athletic expertise, combined with his unmatched hospitality experience will make these Olympic events the most exciting and memorable in history.”

It is unclear whether the executive order will provide relief as city leaders and the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the privately funded nonprofit organization known as LA28 that is planning the Games, negotiate key issues including security costs.

The executive order follows on Trump’s signature legislation, referred to by the president as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” securing $1 billion for security, planning and other costs for the L.A. Games.

Casey Wasserman, chairperson and president of LA28, thanked the Trump administration in a statement “for their leadership and unwavering support as we prepare to deliver the largest and most ambitious Olympic and Paralympic Games ever hosted in the United States.”

“Since we secured this historic opportunity in 2017, President Trump has consistently recognized the magnitude of our responsibility in welcoming the world to Los Angeles,” Wasserman said. “The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028.”

Los Angeles leaders are in negotiations with LA28 for the use of the city’s police, traffic officers and other employees during the Olympics and Paralympics.

Security, trash removal, traffic control, paramedics and more will be needed during the 17-day Olympics and the two-week Paralympics the following month.

Under the 2021 Games agreement between LA28 and the city, LA28 must reimburse the city for any services that go beyond what the city would provide on a normal day. The two parties must agree by Oct. 1, 2025, on “enhanced services” — additional city services needed for the Games, beyond that normal level — and determine rates, repayment timelines, audit rights and other processes.

Overtime for Los Angeles police officers, and any other major expenses, would be acutely felt by a city government that recently closed a nearly $1-billion budget deficit, in part by slowing police hiring.

Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.

Los Angeles city leaders are at a critical juncture ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, with potentially hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at stake.

They are in negotiations with LA28, the private committee overseeing the Games, for the use of the city’s police, traffic officers and other employees during the Olympics and Paralympics.

Millions of visitors are expected to pour into downtown L.A., the Sepulveda Basin and the Westside when the Olympics kick off in July 2028. Security, trash removal, traffic control, paramedics and more will be needed during the 17-day event and the two-week Paralympics the following month.

Under the 2021 Games agreement between LA28 and the city, LA28 must reimburse the city for any services that go beyond what the city would provide on a normal day. The two parties must agree by Oct. 1, 2025, on “enhanced services” — additional city services needed for the Games, beyond that normal level — and determine rates, repayment timelines, audit rights and other processes.

LA28 has billed the Games as a “no cost” event for the city. Depending on how “enhanced services” are defined, the city, which is in a precarious financial state, could end up bearing significant costs. One of the biggest expenses will be security, with the LAPD, as well as a host of other local, state and federal agencies, working together to keep athletes and spectators safe.

Overtime for Los Angeles police officers, and any other major expenses, would be acutely felt by a city government that recently closed a nearly $1-billion budget deficit, in part by slowing police hiring. The city continues to face rising labor costs and diminished revenues from tourism.

At the same time, President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, recently passed by Congress, includes $1 billion for security and planning of the Games. But what those funds will cover — and what will be covered by LA28 — are not yet known.

Against that backdrop, civil rights attorney Connie Rice sent a six-page letter dated July 17 to Mayor Karen Bass and other city leaders, asking questions about the enhanced services agreement and urging the city to take a tough stance. Rice said city staffers reached out to her because they were worried that the agreement wouldn’t adequately protect the city.

“Los Angeles faces multiple fiscal hazards that many current leaders negotiating this and other Olympics agreements, will not be around to face,” Rice wrote. “The City cannot afford an additional $1.5 billion hit in 2028 because city officials inadequately protected taxpayers in 2025.”

Rice’s letter asks if LA28 and the city have resolved differences about the definition of venue “footprints,” or perimeters around sporting events, with the footprint changing depending on whether it’s defined by a blast radius, a security perimeter or other factors.

The letter questioned why LA28 isn’t paying the city up front for costs, using money in escrow, and asked if LA28 has provided the city with a budget for security, transit and sanitation.

Rice, in an interview, said she wants to ensure the Games are indeed “no cost.”

Both Paul Krekorian, who heads Mayor Karen Bass’ major events office, and an LA28 representative declined to directly address Rice’s letter.

“The City and LA28 have been collaborating for years to ensure that all Angelenos benefit from the Games for decades to come,” said Krekorian. “While the [agreement] is currently under negotiation, we fully expect that LA28 will be successful in its fundraising efforts to deliver the Games.”

The city routinely provides police officers and traffic officers for major events, such as Dodgers games and the Grammy Awards. In 2022, the Rams reimbursed the city $1.5 million for resources it provided for the team’s Super Bowl parade, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo.

Last month, Szabo’s office released a document on the city’s investor website outlining potential liabilities facing the city, including some related to the 2028 Games. The document noted that roughly $1 billion in security costs will have to be paid by the city if they are not covered by LA28 or the federal government.

Jacie Prieto Lopez, LA28’s vice president of communications, told The Times that security and other planning costs haven’t been finalized.

Rice’s letter questioned whether LA28 would cover the cost of security. Prieto Lopez didn’t directly answer when asked by The Times if LA28 will cover the LAPD’s expenses.

“We are grateful that the Administration and Congress recently appropriated $1 billion in security funding and we will continue to work with our partners at the federal, state and local levels, including the City of LA, to ensure a safe, secure and successful Games,” Prieto Lopez said in an email.

How the $1 billion from the Big Beautiful Bill is distributed will be determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Homeland Security Grant Program, which is focused on preventing terrorism and other threats.

Anita Gore, a spokesperson for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, told The Times that she expects those funds to be managed by the state through the Homeland Security Grant process.

The Office of Emergency Services is the “coordination hub” for the Games and is overseeing a statewide task force focused on security, traffic management and more, Gore said.

At a recent hearing in Sacramento, LA28 Chief Executive Reynold Hoover said the nonprofit continues to push for federal support for the Games. He said the $1 billion recently approved by Congress will “help us with that initial funding requirements for security.”

Hoover told a Senate subcommittee in June that LA28 is asking the federal government to fully reimburse the public agencies that will provide critical security at the Games.

A representative for the Department of Homeland Security declined to answer questions about how the $1 billion will be used.

Trump’s mercurial nature and past attacks on California make it difficult for some city leaders to gauge how his administration will handle funding for the Games.

Rep. Nellie Pou of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Congressional Task Force for Enhancing Security for Special Events, held a public hearing last month on preparing for the World Cup and Olympics. She told The Times that she has not received any specifics about the $1 billion.

“This administration has withheld and frozen other federal funding appropriated by Congress, so we cannot simply assume that World Cup or Olympic security funding will make it to our communities,” she said.

Krekorian, when asked about Pou’s concerns, said the city “is in direct communication with state and federal partners, as well as LA28, about the allocation of these funds.”

German Olympic biathlete Laura Dahlmeier was struck by falling rocks while scaling Laila Peak in Pakistan on Wednesday.

Authorities have abandoned efforts to recover the body of German Olympic biathlete Laura Dahlmeier, who died in a mountaineering accident in Pakistan this week.

Dahlmeier was confirmed dead on Wednesday, having been hit by falling rocks while climbing at an altitude of 5,700 metres (18,700 feet) on Laila Peak in the Karakoram range.

Attempts to recover her body were abandoned due to “dangerous” conditions at the site, Dahlmeier’s management agency said Thursday.

In consultation with the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the agency said her relatives would “continue to monitor the situation … and are keeping the option of arranging a rescue at a later date”.

Several of Dahlmeier’s colleagues confirmed the two-time Olympic gold medallist had said she did not want her body recovered if it put any would-be rescuers at risk.

German mountaineer Thomas Huber was part of a team that had attempted a rescue, but told reporters on Thursday, “We have decided she should stay, because that was her wish.”

Another member of the rescue team, American Jackson Marvell, told AFP it would be “disrespectful” to recover her body contrary to her wishes.

Marvell said, “The recovery of Laura’s body will be possible, but it involves incredible risks, both on foot and by helicopter.”

Dahlmeier’s climbing partner Marina Krauss, who was with her at the time of the incident, said at a press conference on Thursday that the former Olympian did not move after being caught in a rockfall.

“I saw Laura being hit by a huge rock and then being thrown against the wall. And from that moment on, she didn’t move again,” Krauss told reporters.

Krauss said she was unable to reach Dahlmeier and called for outside support.

“It was impossible for me to get there safely,” she said.

“It was clear to me the only way to help her was to call a helicopter. She didn’t move, she didn’t show any signs [of movement]. I called out to her, but there was no response.

“She only had a chance if help arrived immediately.”

Dahlmeier won seven world championship gold medals, and at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, she became the first woman biathlete to win both the sprint and the pursuit at the same Games.

Dahlmeier retired from professional competition in 2019 at the age of 25.

Peaty took a break from swimming after winning silver in the 100m breaststroke at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

He previously took an extended break from sport in 2023 to prioritise his mental health after experiencing a “major, major burnout”.

However, while “the athlete in my head” is missing not competing at the ongoing World Championships in Singapore, Peaty has a clear plan for his return to competition and is training “a lot smarter” as an older athlete.

“I made the call in January or February, when I started to get back into training, that this Worlds wouldn’t be for me because it would be too rushed,” Peaty said.

“I want to be at the [2026] Commonwealth Games. I want to be at the Europeans next year. I’m never going to take my spot for granted – just because I’ve got a world record doesn’t mean I’m going to be there, it’s ridiculous. I’ve got to earn those places, which excites me.

“I did some race prep before I came out here to see where I’m at and we’re in a good place for October World Cups in America and Canada.”

On his training, he added: “If you’d told me 10 years ago I’d be doing a pilates session this morning, I would have said ‘no way’.

“I look back on certain camps and I was chasing numbers, I needed the outputs, the validation. But I wasn’t swimming the smartest in my head in terms of recovery, mental health and the warning signs of what burnout looks like.

“[Now] it’s what I decide. This block [in Los Angeles], I know it’s a holiday so I’m just going to see how I feel. When I get back into England I’m ramping up for the Commonwealth Games – 4km sessions, 4.5km – and that gives me the best results.”

Former 21st Century Fox and Walt Disney Co. executive Peter Rice has been named head of ceremonies and content for the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles, LA28 organizers said Wednesday.

In this role, the longtime TV veteran will be in charge of the physical production and creative oversight of the opening and closing ceremonies for both games. The 2028 Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony will be held at two venues — the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium. The Games’ closing ceremony will be held at the Coliseum.

In a statement, Rice said he looked forward to producing ceremonies that would honor the legacy of the Coliseum and “celebrate the cutting-edge future” of SoFi Stadium.

“These venues have hosted some of the most legendary moments in sports history,” Rice said. “I’m thrilled to deliver a powerful artistic experience that adds a new chapter to LA’s Olympic and Paralympic story.”

LA28 President and Chairperson Casey Wasserman said Rice’s background in “creativity, operational insight and production excellence” made him ideal for the position.

“He’s been a leading figure in shaping the modern television and film landscape and is the perfect asset to reimagining the delivery of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the digital age, leaving a legacy well beyond the Games,” Wasserman said in a statement.

Rice spent decades at Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, eventually rising to the role of president. After Disney acquired the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox in 2019, he became chairman of Disney’s TV content division. At one point, analysts and insiders speculated that he could become Disney’s CEO.

He was ousted from that role in 2022 over issues of “cultural fit,” insiders said at the time. He was replaced by Dana Walden, his top lieutenant who is now seen as one of the frontrunners to succeed Bob Iger as Disney’s next chief executive.

Qatar signaled its interest as an Olympic Games host with established infrastructure from 2022 FIFA World Cup a key selling point.

The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) said it was taking part in “ongoing discussions” with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the election process for the host city of the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the organisation said in a media release on its website.

The country, which hosted football’s World Cup in 2022 and the Asian Cup in 2024, is the latest to join the race to stage the 2036 Games after confirmed bids from Indonesia, Turkiye, India and Chile.

Other Asian countries considering a bid include Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Egypt, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Canada have also shown interest.

“We currently have 95% of the required sports infrastructure in place to host the Games, and we have a comprehensive national plan to ensure 100% readiness of all facilities,” Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the president of QOC, told the state-run Qatar News Agency on Tuesday.

“This plan is rooted in a long-term vision aimed at building a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable legacy.”

Qatar’s capital Doha is set to host the Asian Games in 2030, having staged the event in 2006.

A successful bid would make Qatar the first country in the Middle East to host the Olympics amid the region’s growing influence over major sporting events. Saudi Arabia is set to hold the football World Cup in 2034.

The 2028 Games will be the largest in modern Olympic history. L.A. will host the Paralympics for the first time. The proper stage for the more than 15,000 athletes competing in 2028 requires more than just Hollywood’s most iconic landmarks.

From the Pacific Ocean to the San Gabriel Mountains to the great plains in Oklahoma, the L.A. Olympics will use more than 30 venues to host 36 sports and 52 disciplines in the largest Games program in modern Olympic history. While the Olympic footprint sprawls across multiple states, the Paralympics will take place in a compact 35-mile radius encompassing L.A., Carson, Long Beach and Arcadia.

Olympic venues for mountain biking, race walking and soccer preliminaries have yet to be announced, along with sites for para weightlifting, para cycling road and the course and finish line of the para marathon. Soccer group-stage games will be played in stadiums across the country before the tournament returns to the Rose Bowl for the medal games.

As the final plan takes shape, here’s a look at where the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in 2028.

ATLANTA — Major League Baseball will not cancel its 2028 All-Star Game in order to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics, Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday.

Manfred said representatives of the league and LA28 met Monday, with both sides hoping to work toward an agreement in which major leaguers would play in the Olympics. MLB has declined to stop its season for previous Olympic baseball tournaments, so minor leaguers and college players have participated in those Games.

But Manfred also warned that any agreement likely would apply only to the L.A. Games, where major leaguers could be done in a week. If baseball remains on the Olympic schedule for Brisbane in 2032, MLB would remain reluctant to shut down for the extended period needed to get players to Australia, allow them to prepare and play, and then return to their major league teams.

“I think that the idea of playing in L.A. in ‘28, regardless of the possibility of ongoing Olympic participation in another location, that there is some merit to it,” Manfred said at a meeting of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.

“I think it is an opportunity to market the game on a really global stage. I think, obviously, because it is in the U.S., the logistics of it are easier.”

On Monday, LA28 announced that baseball would be played July 15-20, 2028, intended as an inducement for MLB to minimize schedule disruption by skipping the All-Star Game for that year and switching to the Olympics in the same week.

Manfred indicated the league’s preference would be to play the All-Star Game in its usual window, then compete in the Olympics and resume the regular season.

“It’s doable,” Manfred said. “They put out a schedule. They tell you it’s not going to move. We’ll see whether there is any movement on that.

“It is possible to play the All-Star Game in its normal spot, have a single break that would be longer, but still play 162 games without bleeding into the middle of November. It would require significant accommodations, but it is possible.”

LA28 released the first look at the 2028 Olympic competition schedule on Monday, exactly three years before the Games open on July 14, 2028. The slate is highlighted by a break in tradition to accommodate the organizing committee’s unique, dual-venue opening ceremony plan.

Instead of beginning the schedule with swimming, as has been customary in recent Games, track and field will instead take place during the first week of competition from July 15 to 24 at the Coliseum. Swimming will follow from July 22 to 30 at SoFi Stadium, where an indoor pool will be built after the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony, now officially scheduled for 5 p.m. PDT on July 14, 2028, will be shared between the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium. Swimming will deliver the final competition of the 2028 Olympics as the last medal events are set to begin at 3 p.m. on July 30, 2028. Three hours later, the Olympic Games will conclude with the closing ceremony at 6 p.m. at the Coliseum.

Several sports will begin qualifying competitions before the opening ceremony, including cricket. The sport, which is returning to the Games for the first time since 1900, will be played at the Fairgrounds in Pomona and begin competition on July 12, along with soccer, handball, water polo, basketball, rugby and field hockey.

Making its Olympic debut, flag football will take place during the first week of competition from July 15 to 22 at BMO Stadium. The early competition could help reduce potential overlap with NFL training camps. Active NFL players are allowed to try out for Olympic national teams, but training camps typically begin in late July.

The sport will get a premier showcase opportunity in its Olympic debut as all flag football competitions are scheduled for afternoon and evening time slots. The men’s medal games are from from 6-8:30 p.m. on July 21, 2028 with the women’s finals beginning at 1 p.m. on July 22.

An artist’s rendering of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics swimming venue at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

(LA28)

Marquee events swimming, track and field, and artistic gymnastics (July 15-20, July 22-25) will dominate the prime-time windows in the United States as the Summer Games return to American soil for the first time since 1996.

U.S. viewership of the Olympics waned from 2018 to 2022 as three consecutive Games in Asian countries made for complicated time zone changes. Viewers in the Pacific Time Zone were 16 hours behind live coverage from Tokyo in 2021, when the pandemic-delayed Games averaged a record-low Olympic viewership for NBC. But numbers skyrocketed at the Paris Games, where evening sessions in Europe made for lunchtime viewing stateside, building interest just in time for L.A. to take the torch.

“We are energized by today’s milestones,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said in a statement Monday that also celebrated 1 million enrollments with the youth sports program PlayLA, “and remain focused on the work ahead as the Road to 2028 continues.”

A full list of times for specific events are expected to be released later this year.

LA28 announced its eighth sponsorship deal of the year last week, inking Uber and Uber Eats as the official rideshare and on-demand delivery partners, respectively. The private organizing group plans to release information for volunteer opportunities this year, and registration for the ticket lottery should follow in early 2026.

In America, the NFL laps every other sport. Around the world, where its product is labeled “American football,” the NFL has largely failed to export its massive domestic popularity.

That hasn’t stopped the NFL from trying. The global market has too much upside. The Rams will play in Australia next year. The San Francisco 49ers staged football clinics in the United Arab Emirates last month.

When the Olympics called, the NFL said yes. In 2028, the L.A. Summer Games will include flag football — and a selection of NFL players. How better to sell your sport internationally than to attach it to the world’s largest sporting event?

Baseball is, uh, still thinking about it.

Two years after we first started talking about whether major leaguers would play in the 2028 Olympics, Major League Baseball still has not said yes, and now the NFL and its publicity-gobbling machine is threatening to steal the spotlight.

If MLB withholds its players, the NFL will steamroll whatever collection of minor leaguers and collegians appear on the Olympic diamond. So will the NBA All-Stars competing for basketball gold.

If MLB agrees to let its players participate — and Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper have made clear they want to compete — hardly anyone will care about flag football.

“We have the best athletes in every sport,” LA28 chief Casey Wasserman told me.

“Wimbledon will end, they’ll come here. The Tour de France will end, they’ll come here and compete. Obviously, men’s and women’s basketball will have the greatest basketball players in the world. So we think that a sport like baseball ought to have the best players in the world playing.”

Here is a statistic the NFL could never match: Of the rosters announced for Tuesday’s All-Star Game, one in three players was born outside the United States. Those players represent eight different countries.

MLB has leveraged that global marketing opportunity into the World Baseball Classic, which has grown over two decades from a curiosity into a must-see event. The WBC returns next spring.

“I think it’s eventually going to get moved to the middle of the season,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa told me at Saturday’s Futures Game. “I think it’s going to be a monster event moving forward.”

The only difference between a WBC in the middle of the season and the Olympics in the middle of the season: MLB controls the WBC.

Dodger Stadium will host six games during the 2028 Olympics, but will MLB players be on any of the teams participating?

(Mike DiGiovanna / Associated Press)

That is not a good enough reason for MLB to skip the Olympics. The best interests of baseball cannot always be measured in today’s dollars.

Should major leaguers participate in the Olympics?

“Oh, yeah,” DeRosa said.

“It’s not that simple a question,” said Tony Clark, executive director of the players’ union, onSaturday.

Clark said the union has had “encouraging informal conversations” with LA28 officials. What Clark would like to see from MLB is an actual plan — all the logistics for all the players, as the NBA and NHL provide when their players participate in the Olympics.

MLB has its own logistics issues too. For instance, if MLB skips the 2028 All-Star Game to accommodate the Olympics, how does the league compensate Fox? The league’s media contracts expire after the 2028 season, so the 2029 All-Star Game might not be available to Fox, and MLB would rather not refund the big bucks.

This much is set, according to Wasserman: The Olympic baseball tournament would cover six days at Dodger Stadium, with a six-team field. The United States would automatically qualify as the host country. The 2026 WBC could serve as a qualifying tournament for other countries, although that is more concept than certainty at this point.

What did Wasserman say in his pitch to major league owners?

“What an incredible opportunity to elevate the sport in a city where you have one of the great cathedrals of the sport,” he said. “There is no better chance to tell the global story of baseball than from the Olympics in Los Angeles.

“They understand that. We could have another Dream Team, or two, depending on the countries. That is a vehicle to tell the story of baseball around the world, and that is really powerful.”

To his credit, commissioner Rob Manfred gets that.

“We do see LA28 as a, you know, real opportunity from a marketing perspective,” Manfred told the Associated Press Sports Editors in April.

Logistics aside, Manfred needs to convince the owners — his bosses — that interrupting the regular season is worth it. If the Games were held halfway around the world, shutting down the season for two weeks might be problematic.

But in Los Angeles, for one week? Kill the All-Star Game for a year, and start the regular season three days early, or finish it three days late.

Wasserman said he has had “pretty consistent dialogue” with the league.

“We hope they get to the right answer, which is Major League Baseball players being eligible to play,” Wasserman said.

“We’ll be as patient as we need to be to get to the right answer.”

The wrong answer: The world is watching the Olympics, and MLB is giving us the Colorado Rockies.

The iconic River Seine has reopened to swimmers in Paris, allowing people to take a dip in the French capital’s waterway for the first time in at least a century after a more than billion-euro cleanup project that made it suitable for Olympic competitions last year.

A few dozen people arrived ahead of the 8am (06:00 GMT) opening on Saturday at the Bras Marie zone in the city’s historic centre, diving into the water for the long-awaited moment under the watchful eyes of lifeguards wearing fluorescent yellow T-shirts and carrying whistles.

It was also a welcome respite from the scorching heat enveloping the city this week. Parisians and tourists alike, looking to cool off this summer, can dive in – weather permitting – at three bathing sites: one close to Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral, another near the Eiffel Tower and a third in eastern Paris.

The swimming zones are equipped with changing rooms, showers and beach-style furniture, offering space for 150 to 300 swimmers.

The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics, when open-water swimmers and triathletes competed in its waters, which were specially cleaned for the event.

“It’s a childhood dream to have people swimming in the Seine,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who visited the bras Marie site on Saturday morning.

But officials reminded swimmers of potential dangers, including strong currents, boat traffic and an average depth of 3.5 metres (11 feet).

“The Seine remains a dangerous environment,” said local official Elise Lavielle earlier this week.

To mitigate that risk, lifeguards will assess visitors’ swimming abilities before allowing independent access, while a decree issued in late June introduced fines for anyone swimming outside designated areas.

The promise to lift the swimming ban dates back to 1988, when then-mayor of Paris and future President Jacques Chirac first advocated for its reversal, about 65 years after the practice was banned in 1923.

“One of my predecessors (Chirac), then mayor of Paris, dreamed of a Seine where everyone could swim,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, describing the move as the result of a “collective effort” and a moment of “pride” for France.

L’un de mes prédécesseurs, alors Maire de Paris, a rêvé d’une Seine où chacun pourrait nager. Demain sa promesse sera tenue.

C’est un héritage des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques de Paris après 100 ans d’interdiction, un travail collectif, une fierté pour le pays.

Merci… pic.twitter.com/KhymFPgIy1

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 4, 2025

Ahead of the Olympic Games, authorities invested approximately 1.4 billion euros ($1.6bn) to improve the Seine’s water quality.

Since then, work carried out upstream, including 2,000 new connections to the sewage system, promises even better water quality – with an unappetising catch.

On rainy days, the mid-19th-century Parisian sewage system often overflows, causing rain and wastewater to pour into the river.

Flags will inform bathers about pollution levels in the water every day, and if it rains, the sites will likely close the day after, said Paris city official Pierre Rabadan.

The presence of the faecal bacteria Escherichia coli (E coli) and enterococci in the Seine will be assessed daily using live sensors and samples.

A refuge from the hot weather

Varying weather conditions will be a critical factor. Swimmers may be in luck this year, though, with temperatures predicted to be drier than the record rainfall during the games, which had led to the cancellation of six of the 11 competitions held on the river.

With record-breaking heat hitting Europe, including France’s second warmest June since records began in 1900, authorities said they expect Parisians to embrace the relief of a refreshing swim.

Some scepticism about the water quality remains, however.

Dan Angelescu, founder and CEO of Fluidion, a Paris and Los Angeles-based water monitoring tech company, has routinely and independently tested bacterial levels in the Seine for several years. Despite being in line with current regulations, the official water-testing methodology has limitations and undercounts the bacteria, he said.

“What we see is that the water quality in the Seine is highly variable,” Angelescu said. “There are only a few days in a swimming season where I would say water quality is acceptable for swimming.”

Some Parisians are also hesitant about the idea of swimming in the Seine. The feeling is often reinforced by the water’s murky colour, floating litter and multiple tourist boats in some places.

Hidalgo, who took an inaugural swim last year, said that cleaning up the Seine for the Olympics was not the final goal but part of a broader effort to adapt the city to climate change and enhance quality of life.

The swimming spots will be open for free until August 31 at scheduled times to anyone with a minimum age of 10 or 14 years, depending on the location.

Jennifer Dodds is aiming for back-to-back Winter Olympic gold medals, with the curling teams the first officially confirmed Team GB athletes for Milan-Cortina 2026.

And, with a silver medal on their debut, Bruce Mouat and his rink are aiming to go one better in Italy next year.

Mouat, along with Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jr, were narrowly beaten by Sweden in the 2022 final.

Dodds teamed up with Eve Muirhead, Vicky Wright and Hailey Duff in Beijing as Britain topped the podium for the first time in 20 years.

This time, she will be joined by Rebecca Morrison, Sophie Sinclair and skip Sophie Jackson.

“Winning gold last time was a dream come true, so I’m excited to get back there, obviously with a new team,” Dodds told BBC Scotland.

“We’ve been building a lot over the last couple of seasons and I’m excited to see where the trajectory of our performance can go over the next eight months.

“I’ve known a couple of the girls for quite a while, but that’s the thing, we probably had to build that teamwork, build the friendships and I feel like we’ve done that really well. I think you can see in our performances, our teamwork has improved, and a big part of that is communication and understanding each other.”

Mouat’s Scotland rink won World Championship gold for a second time this year, having been European champions on four occasions.

Now the Edinburgh curler wants to add Olympic gold to their list of achievements.

“We were close last time,” he said. “It came down to a matter of centimetres in the final. It was tough at the time but we’ve really bounced back and got our two world championships and now we’ve got 10 Grand Slam titles, so we have a lot of momentum.”

Darrell Doucette didn’t mean any disrespect. All the U.S. flag football star wanted to do in an interview that went more viral than any of his numerous highlights was to fight for his sport.

So when he told TMZ in 2024 that he is “better than Patrick Mahomes” at flag football for his IQ of the sport, the generally soft-spoken Doucette wasn’t trying to issue any challenges. Watch the two-time world champion throw touchdowns, catch them, snap the ball and play defense all in the same game and it’s clear he prefers to let his game speak.

“It wasn’t about me vs. them,” said Doucette, who is known in the flag football world by his nickname “Housh.” “It was about flag football, putting eyes on this game.”

With preparations ramping up for the 2028 Olympics, flag football just wants its respect.

Respect for the sport that is no longer just a child’s stepping stone to tackle football.

Respect for its established players who have already won every tournament there is and have eyes for more.

U.S. wide receiver Isabella “Izzy” Geraci runs with the ball during a game against Australia at the USA Football Summer Series at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s not your mom’s flag football anymore,” said Callie Brownson, USA Football’s senior director of high performance and national team operations.

Flag football has graduated out of backyards and into the Olympics, where the sport will debut in L.A. More than 750 athletes from 10 countries from the youth level to senior national teams gathered at Dignity Health Sports Park last weekend to preview the Olympic future at USA Football’s Summer Series, where the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams played friendlies against Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan.

The sport’s growth domestically and internationally came in part through major investment from the NFL, and the league could play a major role in the Olympics: NFL players are allowed to participate in Olympic competition. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was among the NFL stars who immediately took notice as the NFL most valuable player said he would “absolutely love” to play if given the opportunity.

Doucette loved hearing the conversation. The New Orleans native grew up playing the sport when seemingly no one else bothered to care. To hear NFL players taking an interest now? It feels like all he ever wanted.

“We’re welcoming those guys,” Doucette said. “We don’t have no issue with it. We just want a fair opportunity. We want those guys to come out and learn because there’s things that we’re going to need to teach them … and there’s things that they can teach us. They can teach us how to run routes and how to cover and do other different things. So it’s not us vs. them or them vs. us. It’s us together as one teaching each other.”

U.S. wide receiver Ja’Deion High evades an Australian defender during the USA Football “Summer Series” at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Olympic flag football is played with five players per side on a 50-by-25-yard field. Teams have four downs to reach midfield and four more to score from inside midfield. The basic tenants of offensive football remain the same from its tackle counterpart: throw, catch, run.

But players don’t juke the same way their tackle counterparts can, wide receiver Ja’Deion High said. When the former Texas Tech receiver was learning the sport, he was stunned when defenders still pulled his flag after what he believed were his best moves. He had to learn flag football’s unique hip dips and flips to keep his flags away from defenders.

The adjustment on defense could be even more difficult. Defenders cannot hinder an opposing player’s forward progress. The NFL’s most mundane hand-check would draw a penalty in flag football.

“The athletic ability [of an NFL player], I’m not questioning,” said defensive back Mike Daniels, a former cornerback at West Virginia. “But the IQ aspect, the speed of the game is completely different.”

USA Football, the governing body of U.S. flag football responsible for selecting the national team, has not outlined how NFL players will fit into the tryout process for the 2028 Olympic cycle. But with the Games scheduled for July 14 to July 30, the one-week flag competition could overlap with the beginning of NFL training camps. Even preparations to learn the new sport and practice its unique schemes would take valuable offseason time away from NFL players.

U.S. wide receiver Laval Davis, left, attempts to catch a pass as an Australian player defends during the USA Football Summer Series on Sunday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley was ready to burst into patriotic song at the mention of representing the United States in the Olympics, but when reminded that he might have to miss part of training camp for it, he backed off immediately. He spoke directly into a video camera to assure Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh that the job that pays him $5.4 million on a four-year rookie contract is all he needs.

USA Football has remained in contact with the NFL about how to integrate professionals, said Brownson, who worked for the Cleveland Browns for five seasons, including three as the assistant wide receivers coach. With the Games still three years away, USA Football is focused on keeping doors open to all prospects and offering educational opportunities for potential players to become familiar with flag football.

“The cool thing about our process is when you come out to trials, there is no name on the back of your jersey,” Brownson said. “You get a number and you have the same opportunity to try out as the person next to you. … We’ll just be excited to have the best team that we could but I always do and will always stand up for who we currently field.

“They’re the best flag football players in the world, both men and women, and they deserve their flowers, too.”

The U.S. men’s national team is the five-time defending International Federation of American Football (IFAF) world champions. Since Doucette made his national team debut in 2020, the U.S. men are undefeated in international tournaments with gold medals at two world championships (2021, 2024), the 2022 World Games and the 2023 continental championship.

U.S. wide receiver Amber Clark-Robinson scores a touchdown against Australia at the USA Football Summer Series at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Led by quarterback Vanita Krouch, the women’s team is 33-1 in the last six years. The U.S. women have won three consecutive IFAF world championships and the 2023 continental title while finishing second at the 2022 World Games.

Krouch has become an international flag football star after a four-year basketball career at Southern Methodist. Examining talent transfers from other sports has helped strengthen the USA Football athlete pipeline as the organization researches the best qualities for flag football.

Baseball and softball players who can whip passes from odd arm angles can thrive in a game that features multiple quarterbacks. The U.S. national teams have former basketball, soccer and track and field stars.

The sport values agility and elusiveness. While the NFL’s 40-yard dash is the premier test for speed, it may be less valuable in flag football, Brownson said. The perfect flag football player combines that straight-line speed with quickness.

“There’s such an art and a craft and a different style of dance that we do,” Krouch said. “I say tackle football is like hip hop, krump dancing. … We ballet dance. It’s finesse, it’s clean, it’s creative.”

The quarterback served as an offensive coordinator in the 2023 NFL Pro Bowl, the first version of the All-Star game to feature a flag football format. Leading the NFC team to victory, Krouch loved sharing flag football’s unique route combinations. She noticed how the NFL’s best showed their respect for her sport by enthusiastically learning the different nuances.

The Pro Bowl experience was one of many surreal moments for Krouch in her nearly two-decade career of playing flag football. From playing in a local league, the 44-year-old has become a multi-time gold medalist. She never thought this sport she sometimes teaches in her elementary physical education classes could become this big.

U.S. defensive back Laneah Bryan, left, tries to pull a flag off an Australian player during the USA Football Summer Series on Sunday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

The announcement that flag football would officially debut in the 2028 Olympics brought it to even greater heights. No question Krouch wants to play in the Games.

But the competition at tryouts every year gets 10 times harder, two-time national team member Ashlea Klam said. The 19-year-old plays flag football on a scholarship for NAIA-level Keiser University and recognizes no one is guaranteed a spot each year as the talent pool grows. It will be even more difficult to make the 10-person Olympic roster.

As each year’s tryouts get more competitive, Doucette sees his hope for the sport coming true. He knows the better prospects are a sign that more people are paying attention to flag football. If in three years at BMO Stadium, the eyes are fixated on another quarterback leading the United States at the Olympics, Doucette will consider that still mission accomplished.

“No matter if I’m a part of the team or not, I will still be around the game,” Doucette said. “That’s my goal is still to be there, in general, no matter if I’m playing or watching.”

In a sprawling county where transit lines are sometimes miles apart, transit leaders’ plans for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics rely on a robust fleet of buses to get people to and from venues and avoid a traffic meltdown.

The plan hinges on a $2-billion ask of the Trump administration to lease 2,700 buses to join Metro’s fleet of roughly 2,400, traveling on a network of designated lanes to get from venue to venue. But with roughly three years to go until opening day, the plan faces several challenges over funding and time.

The federal government has yet to respond to the city’s request. And Metro’s commitment to lease clean energy buses could pose supply problems and challenges around charging infrastructure. Operators would also need to be trained under state regulations and provided housing through the Games.

“Three years might seem like a lot of time to many of us, but in municipal time, three years is like the blink of an eye. That’s our greatest challenge.” said Daniel Rodman, a member of the city of L.A.’s office of major events, at a recent UCLA transit forum. “Father Time is coming.”

The Games will be scattered in places across the region including Alamitos Beach in Long Beach, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, the L.A. Coliseum and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and outside the county in Anaheim and all the way to northern San Diego County. Official watch parties and fan gatherings will also occur throughout the metropolis. Since these and many of the venues aren’t directly accessible by rail, the bus system will be key to the city’s push for “transit first” — a motto that city leaders have adopted since Mayor Karen Bass’ previous messaging around a “car-free Olympics.”

The bus system will be key to the city’s push for “transit first.”

(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

Outside the bus system, several transit projects in the works are expected to ease some of the traffic burden, including the extension for the Metro D Line, also known as the Purple Line, which Metro has slated for completion before the Olympics, and the opening of the automated people mover train at Los Angeles International Airport, which will offer an alternative to driving to the airport. There are also proposals for water taxi use from San Pedro to Long Beach, where multiple events will be held, to offer an alternative to the Vincent Thomas and Long Beach International Gateway bridges.

The big question is whether enough people in a famously auto-bound city will be willing to take public transit. Leaders believe that tourists are likely to take advantage of the system, and hope more Angelenos will too.

“All of our international visitors know how to ride public transportation — it’s second nature for our people coming from other countries,” county Supervisor and Metro board Chair Janice Hahn said at a recent UCLA forum, pointing to the Paris Olympics and the city’s long use of public transit. “It’s the Angelenos that we’re still trying to attract. So I’m thinking the legacy will be a good experience on a bus or a train that could translate after the Olympics to people riding Metro.”

Los Angeles leaders warned of major traffic jams ahead of the 1984 Olympics. Then-Councilmember Pat Russell advised residents to leave the city and take a vacation, and many Angelenos rented out their homes to visitors. Fears loomed that if the city couldn’t nail down a transit plan, the experience would be a disaster and spectators would encounter a fate similar to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., where thousands of people were stranded in below-freezing temperatures after the shuttle bus system became overloaded, according to Times archival reports.

“Of all the problems we’re faced with these Olympics Games, transportation is the surest and most inevitable mess unless we get the cooperation and support of people to adjust their use of their personal vehicles,” Capt. Ken Rude, the head of California Highway Patrol’s Olympic planning unit, told The Times a year before the 1984 Games. Months earlier, he warned that traffic jams could be so bad that people would be forced to abandon their cars on freeways.

Traffic on the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles during the 1984 Summer Olympics.

(Michael Montfort / Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images)

In the end, catastrophe was avoided. The plan 40 years ago was similar to today’s — build a robust bus system to shuttle Olympics fans, athletes and leaders throughout the county.

Traffic was manageable, whether due to transit plans that relied on an additional 550 buses to assist a fleet of 2,200, temporarily turned some streets one-way and limited deliveries to certain hours, or an exodus of residents as people left the area ahead of the Games, in part due to the dire predictions of complete gridlock.

But fast-forward, Los Angeles’ population has grown from nearly 8 million in 1984 to 9.7 million today, and the region is expecting millions more spectators than it did during the last Games. Estimates for the overall number of expected visitors are still vague, but planners have anticipated as many as 9 million more ticket holders than in the 1984 Olympics.

“There’s a mountain to be moved and if you move it one year, it’s a lot harder than in three years,” said Juane Matute, deputy director of UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies. “The buses are hard enough to get, but all of these policy and regulatory changes may be hard as well.”

Metro has received leasing commitments for roughly 650 buses so far. Vehicles aside, it will take time to get bus operators properly trained, tested and certified to operate public transit in the state, Matute said. An estimated 6,000 additional bus operators would be needed to drive people throughout the Games. Metro has said that those operators are expected to be provided through transit agencies loaning the buses.

In the latest state budget proposal, $17.6 million from the state’s highway fund would go toward Olympics and Paralympics planning, including Metro’s Games Route Network, which would designate a series of roads for travel by athletes, media members, officials, the International Olympics Committee, spectators and workers. But city and Metro leaders have continued to raise concerns over the funding gap, especially since the additional buses and priority lanes network in 2028 won’t be a permanent fixture to Los Angeles, and as the agency grapples with budget challenges as it faces a $2.3-billion deficit by 2030.

A cycle rickshaw driver, of Deke’s Muscled Cabs, transports a passenger, possibly an athlete, during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

(Michael Montfort / Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images)

Olympics planners, on the other hand, are confident that transportation will be successful.

“L.A. has invested unto itself a lot in infrastructure here and transportation infrastructure — far more than it did in ‘84,” LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman said after a three-day visit from the International Olympic Committee.

“We feel very confident that it’ll be a different version of the success we had in ‘84 in terms of ingress and egress and access and experience when it comes to transportation.”

Times staff writer Thuc Nhi Nguyen contributed to this report.

Tom Daley has opened up about the inner turmoil he experienced after earning Olympic success at the age of 14.

On 1 June, the champion diver released his new documentary Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds.

Directed by Vaughan Sivell, the film chronicles Daley’s remarkable athletic career, including his beginnings in the diving world and his extensive Olympic journey.

The documentary also takes a candid look at some of the personal struggles he had to deal with behind the scenes, ranging from his coming out announcement to the tragic passing of his father.  

In light of the release of Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds, Daley opened up to Newsweek about some of the topics explored in the film, including his experience with bullying in school.

When asked what it was like to watch back that portion of the film, the 31-year-old talent described it as “very lonely” – adding that no one in his life at the time understood what he was going through.

“I had my best friends– Sophie, who is still my best friend today – who I never spoke to about diving. She’s there to be, like, ‘Yay! That was great!.’ But she doesn’t have any interest in knowing what’s going on within it,” he explained to the news outlet.

“Well, maybe she does have an interest. But she doesn’t see me just as a diver. She’s my best friend. So I think that’s something that’s really quite nice to have, and I’m grateful for her.

“But no one really understood what it was like to be that young when I was going away on team competitions because they were all so much older than I was at the time.”

When addressing the bullying he faced, Daley said he “almost felt guilty” about being picked on, adding that he didn’t want to “bother anyone” with how he was feeling.

“I’m really grateful and really lucky to be in the position that I’m in, yet I’m having this really tough time. It was like being pulled from one side to the other of like, ‘Yay, great. I’m succeeding in this.’ But then, ‘Oh no, I’m being pulled this way,’” he continued.

“It was quite difficult to have that moment where I was just like, ‘You know what, I feel very alone. I don’t really know what to do.’ That’s part of the reason why I think I kept finding myself putting on this other personality to be able to hide from that bit of me that was really struggling.”

Toward the end of his statement, Daley explained that he didn’t want to confront his inner challenges – like being gay, school bullying, or his dad’s terminal illness – because he didn’t “want to come across as the person who felt sorry for themselves.”

“Because I felt so grateful and lucky to be in the position I was, and I didn’t ever feel like I was in a position to ever complain about that,” he added.

The Made With Love founder’s recent interview comes a few days after he shed some light on his 19-year age gap with husband Dustin Lance Black.

“As we get older, I think we both align very well on what we want to achieve. We’re both really big dreamers. I think that was the biggest thing for us, that we’re both so supportive of each other,” Daley told Us Weekly.

“We don’t limit the other person’s dreams. We really make each other feel like we can achieve whatever we set our minds to.”

You can watch Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds here

To date, Ryding has achieved seven World Cup podium finishes, capped by his historic gold in the Kitzbuhel slalom.

In the aftermath of that race, Ryding said he had “never stopped believing, never stopped trying” – encapsulating his “Northern grit” and determination to rise to the top of the sport, despite the odds being stacked against him.

Unlike most of his global peers, Ryding was not brought up on snow.

His first experience of skiing came as a six-year-old on a plastic dry slope in Pendle, Lancashire, while he did little training on snow until he was 13. He continued to race on the dry into his early twenties.

He had a late breakthrough to the top circuit of the sport, earning his first World Cup points just a few weeks shy of his 26th birthday and not adding any more until two years later.

It was in Kitzbuhel, Austria, that he stood on a World Cup podium for the first time with silver in 2017, while his most recent medal, a bronze, came in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, in December 2023.

His best finish at the Olympics is ninth at Pyeongchang 2018, but Ryding feels he has “left something on the table” at the Games, where he will be watched by his nearly three-year-old daughter, Nina.

“I think ninth is not a true reflection of my ability,” he said.

For one last season, Ryding will train with British team-mates Billy Major, 28, and Laurie Taylor, 29. They have big boots to fill, but follow tracks that have taken British skiing to a whole new level.

“Hearing kids openly and talk normally about World Cup podiums, it almost makes me laugh, because this is nuts,” said Ryding.

“I don’t necessarily go to a race thinking of podiums, but the next generation are certainly thinking that.

“The belief that I’ve given to the next generation, I absolutely see it, and I’m really excited to see what that becomes for the next 20 years.”

Three years before the Olympics, LA28 organizers gave International Olympic Committee officials the kind of Games preview that even Hollywood’s best scriptwriters couldn’t plan.

To begin a visit to check on LA28’s planning progress, the IOC coordination commission attended a game at Dodger Stadium and watched Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off double in the 10th inning to defeat the New York Mets in the same stadium that will host Olympic baseball in three years.

The electric celebration, passing grades for an advanced venue plan and a growing corporate sponsorship portfolio keeps LA28 on track approaching the three-year mark until the 2028 Olympics open in a dual-venue ceremony at SoFi Stadium and the Coliseum.

“We are really confident in the progress we’ve made,” LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman said after the coordination committee’s three-day visit. “We’re focused on what we’ve always done to deliver the greatest Games we are capable of delivering in this city in the most fiscally responsible way that pays dividends for every member of our Olympic movement and our community.”

With the city of Los Angeles facing deep financial problems and transportation updates lagging behind schedule, LA28 is under pressure to deliver a completely privately funded Games. The private group says it remains up to the challenge as fundraising for the L.A. Games has been “going gangbusters,” John Slusher, chief executive of LA28’s commercial operation, said in an interview with The Times.

With six new partnerships this year — matching the total number of deals in all of last year — LA28 has contract revenue worth more than 60% of its total $2.5 billion sponsorship goal. Slusher expects an estimated seven to nine more deals coming this year, and the group is on pace to reach its goal of $2 billion in corporate sponsorship dollars by the end of the year, Slusher and Wassserman said.

“I would tell you where I’m sitting today, we feel very confident we can either meet or exceed that $2.5 billion target,” Slusher said, “which I think people would have called a stretch target in November.”

A major partnership with Honda signaled a boon for business as it was the first founding-level partnership for LA28 since Salesforce signed on in 2021. The cloud-based software company backed out of its deal in 2024. The sudden split raised eyebrows about LA28’s fundraising progress, casting doubt whether the committee could fulfill a promise of a privately funded Games that shielded local and state taxpayers from picking up any debt.

But organizers remained undeterred.

Such twists have marked LA28’s long-planned Olympic journey. The L.A. Games were awarded in 2017 in a rare dual-city announcement that also placed the 2024 Games in Paris. Instead of the typical seven-year lead-up time, LA28 preached patience through an unprecedented 11-year planning period.

“More time is always better than less time,” Wasserman said in an interview with The Times. “The only negative of selling is there’s more distance between deals, so everyone’s like, ‘You’re not doing well.’ Which is never how we’ve been feeling. … My view is judge us when we get to the startline on how we did on sponsorship revenue.”

Judgment time is creeping ever closer. The Olympic Games will open on July 14, 2028.

Although the city has agreed to cover the first $270 million in debt incurred from the Games if LA28 goes overbudget, Wasserman said organizers don’t intend to come close to the financial backstop.

According to the latest financial report filed to the city in March, LA28 plans to cover the proposed $7.1 billion cost with about one-third of the projected revenue coming from domestic sponsorships and another one-third coming from ticketing and hospitality.

“The caliber of new domestic partnerships this year highlights the power of the Olympic Games to bring people together, create long-term value and reflect growing national engagement with LA28’s vision,” said Nicole Hoevertsz, the IOC coordination commission chair.

An artist’s rendering of the rowing venue in Long Beach for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Long Beach is one of several cities that are slated to host events during the Games.

(LA28)

To begin the 2025 sponsorship momentum, LA28 announced an official partnership with AECOM in March as the engineering company will support venue infrastructure for the Games.

Mortgage company Pennymac, mattress brand Saatva, cloud-based data storage company Snowflake and aviation company Archer signed on as official supporters, one tier below a partnership such as AECOM.

While not specifying the financial details, Slusher said he estimated LA28 would make three or four times as much sponsorship revenue this year compared with all of last year.

“Our job is to maximize revenue,” Wasserman said. “I am very confident in our ability to generate, frankly, more revenue that’s ever been generated for a Summer Games in the history of the Olympics. I have no doubt about that.”

While a smaller portion of the budget than sponsorship, merchandise and licensing is gaining momentum as well, Slusher said, as companies clamor for a chance to issue official pins, T-shirts, programs or plush toys.

LA28’s financial report states that it has signed commercial or retail agreements with several companies, including Cisco, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Skims. Licensing and merchandising is projected to bring in $344 million, according to LA28’s latest annual report.

The next major piece will be ticketing, which, with hospitality, is slated to generate $2.5 billion in revenue, a $569 million increase from a June 2024 estimate. LA28 expects to begin registration for the ticket lottery in early 2026.

While LA28 and city officials have hailed the Games as a moment to welcome the world to L.A., concerns about international travel have mounted under the current administration. Delays in visa processing prompted Congressional action ahead of next year’s World Cup. President Trump signed a travel ban Wednesday that bars citizens from 12 countries from entering the United States. On Sunday, the Trump administration deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles amid protests over immigration raids.

The latest Trump order targeting visitors from 12 countries includes exemptions for certain athletes, including those traveling to the United States for major sporting events, and Wasserman was not worried about visa issues affecting the Games.

“It’s very clear that the federal government understands that that’s an environment that they will be accommodating and provide for,” Wasserman said of the recent travel ban. “So we have great confidence that that will only continue. It has been the case to date and it will certainly be the case going forward to the Games.”

Because Wasserman anticipates the majority of ticket sales to be domestic, he said he is not concerned with a potential drop in revenue if international fans don’t attend amid visa or safety concerns.

But Paris 2024, which sold a record 12.1 million tickets for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, sold about 38% of its Olympic tickets to fans living outside France, according to the IOC. The successful event exceeded its ticketing and hospitality revenue target by $397 million and brought in a roughly $30-million surplus.

Continuing the Olympic movement’s success has been at the top of LA28’s mind while bringing the Games back to L.A. for the first time in more than four decades. The 1984 Games were also privately funded and hailed as a massive success for their $225 million surplus that was invested in youth sports. The opportunity to use existing venues in 2028 dramatically reduces potential costs by avoiding new, permanent construction.

“I fully expect that LA28 will be successful in meeting its revenue goals, and I fully expect that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a financial success,” Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles executive director for the office of major events, said in a statement to The Times. “Twice before, Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics, even in the face of adversity, and both of those Games were a huge success for our city and its residents.”

Still, city leaders face enormous pressure to ensure that streets and sidewalks are safe and accessible for the millions of people expected to visit L.A. during the Games. Mayor Karen Bass recently unveiled a citywide initiative called “Shine L.A.” that encourages volunteers to beautify the city with clean-ups and tree plantings ahead of next year’s World Cup and the Olympics.

With city and federal funding, L.A. has planned to overhaul its public transportation system, including a long-awaited Metro station that opened Friday at Los Angeles International Airport. But other updates such as an electrified bus network, expanded rail lines and the LAX people mover have lagged. While the city’s transportation plan is outside of LA28’s Games operation and budget, Wasserman expressed confidence that L.A. will be able to repeat its transit success from the 1984 Games.

But the Olympics have grown larger than ever. A record 11,198 Olympians will compete in 2028. The Paralympics will be the city’s first. Especially with L.A. still recovering from devastating wildfires and a nearly $1 billion deficit, the threat of taxpayers absorbing any costs for the Games looms large.

With financial momentum growing behind the 2028 Games, Wasserman wants to put worried minds at ease.

“The last thing a taxpayer should be worried about is us,” Wasserman said. “We know how to do this. We are proving that every day and we will prove it all the way throughout the process and we are in every sense of the word, giving to the city, not taking from the city.”

Los Angeles is now a mere 12 months away from serving as primary host of the World Cup soccer championships, and three years away from taking the world stage as host of both the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Athletes and tourists by the tens of thousands will pour into the region from around the world, and I’m reminded of the classic film “Sunset Boulevard,” in which Gloria Swanson proclaimed, “I’m ready for my close-up.”

Will L.A. be ready for its close-up?

Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.

That’s a question I intend to explore on a semi-regular basis, and you’re invited to worry and wonder along with me by sending your comments and questions to [email protected].

To let you know where I’m coming from, I’m a sports fan who watches the Olympics on television despite the politics, the doping scandals and the corporatization of the Games. But I’m also a professional skeptic, and my questions extend far beyond whether we’re ready for our close-up.

Here are just a few:

Will the benefits of hosting outweigh the burdens?

Will the average Southern Californian get anything out of the years-long buildup and staging of the Games?

And, will basic services and infrastructure near Olympic venues get upgrades at the expense of long-overdue improvements in other areas?

The answer to that question is a big “yes,” says L.A. Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who represents the northeastern San Fernando Valley.

“What I’ve seen in [the latest] budget is that those areas that will be hosting some of the Olympic events will be prioritized,” she said, and that means her district is off the radar.

It’s worth noting that the city of Los Angeles is not running these Olympics (that’s the job of LA28, a private nonprofit working in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee), nor is it hosting all the events. Olympic sites will be scattered well beyond Los Angeles proper, with volleyball in Anaheim, for instance, cricket in Pomona, cycling in Carson and swimming in Long Beach. Softball and canoe slalom competitions will be held in Oklahoma City.

Competitors dive into the Seine river at the start of the men’s 10km, marathon swimming, at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

(David Goldman / Associated Press)

But as lead host and a partner in the staging of mega-events that will draw an international spotlight, the reputation of the city of Los Angeles is on the line.

One financial advantage the 2028 Games will enjoy over previous Olympics is that there’s no need to erect any massive, ridiculously expensive new stadiums or arenas. There’ll be soccer at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, track and field at the L.A. Coliseum and baseball at Dodger Stadium, for instance. All of which will keep the overall cost of the Games down.

But playing the part of primary Olympic host carries as many risks as opportunities.

“The Games have a history of damaging the cities and societies that host them,” according to an analysis last year in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, which cited “broken budgets that burden the public purse … the militarization of public spaces … and the expulsion of residents through sweeps, gentrifications and evictions.”

Even without all that, L.A. has a raft of problems on its hands, and the close-up at the moment is not a pretty portrait.

Tens of thousands of people are homeless, and the agency overseeing homelessness is in turmoil amid damning financial audits, so unless there’s a quick turnaround, the city will be draped in blue tarps for all the world to see. Meanwhile, planned transportation improvements are behind schedule, skyrocketing liability claim settlements are expected to cost $300 million this year, and on top of all that, it suddenly dawned on local leaders several weeks ago that the city was broke.

“Our budget situation is critical,” Mayor Karen Bass wrote in an April letter to the City Council, outlining a nearly $1-billion deficit and proposing numerous program cuts and layoffs.

The City Council restored some of those trims, but the outlook is still grim, with several hundred workers losing their jobs. Bass and other local leaders maintain that playing host to mega-events will help restock the treasury. But the opposite could be true, and if the $7-billion Games don’t break even, the already-strapped city will get slapped with a $270-million bailout tab.

For all the hand-wringing at City Hall, it’s not as if the current budget deficit should have come as a surprise. Revenue is down, the response to homelessness devours a big chunk of the budget (without transformational progress to show for the investment), and the bills keep coming due on the City Hall tradition of awarding public employee pay raises it can’t afford.

That’s why there’s a 10-year wait to get a ruptured sidewalk fixed (although the city is much quicker to pay millions in trip-and-fall cases), and there’s an estimated $2 billion in deferred maintenance at recreation and parks department facilities. At TorchedLA, journalist Alissa Walker reports that in an annual ranking of park systems in the largest 100 cities, L.A. has dropped to 90th, which she fairly called “a bad look for a city set to host the largest sporting events in the world.”

Speaking of bad looks, moving thousands of athletes and tourists around the city will be key to the success of the Games, but some of the so-called “28 by 28” transportation improvements slated for completion by the start of the Olympics have been dereailed or scaled back. And my colleague Colleen Shalby reported last month that Metro’s projected budget deficit over the next five years is massive:

“Critical parts of Metro’s Olympics plans are yet to be nailed down,” she wrote. “The agency has yet to confirm $2 billion in funds to lease nearly 3,000 buses, which are integral to Los Angeles’ transit-first goal for the Games.”

Babe Didrikson, right, clears the first hurdle on her way to winning the first heat of the women’s 80-meter hurdles during the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games at the Coliseum.

(Associated Press)

Michael Schneider, founder of the nonprofit Streets for All, said L.A.’s budget crisis “is coming at the worst possible time.” Not that the delivery of basic infrastructure needs should be tied to major sporting events, but he had hoped the Olympics would trigger a substantial investment in “bus rapid transit, a network of bike lanes, sidewalks that aren’t broken, curb ramps. Just the nuts and bolts of infrastructure.”

Jules Boykoff, a Pacific University professor and former professional soccer player who has studied the social and economic impacts of several recent Olympics, is not wowed by L.A.’s record so far.

“I thought Los Angeles was going to be in a lot better shape,” Boykoff said. “I’ve been taken aback by the problems that exist and how little has been done.”

The real goal isn’t just to host the Olympics, Boykoff said, but to do so in a way that delivers long-lasting improvements.

“Any smart city” uses the Games “to get gains for everybody in the city. Athens in 2004 got a subway system,” he said, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 got a transit link, and last year’s host, Paris, got a system of bike lanes.

L.A. had gold-medal aspirations, and the city has made some transit improvements. It’s also got a wealth of signature natural wonders to show off, from the mountains to the sea, just as the Paris Games featured the Eiffel Tower and the magical evening skyline.

But three big hurdles now stand in the way of making it to the podium:

The budget limitations (which could get worse between now and 2028), the diversion of resources to the Palisades wildfire recovery, and the uncertainty of desperately needed federal financial support from President Trump, who would probably not put Los Angeles on his list of favorite cities.

Races are sometimes won by runners making a move from the back of the pack, and L.A. could still find its stride, show some pride, and avoid embarrassing itself.

That’s what I’m rooting for.

But just one year away from the World Cup and three from the Olympics, the clock is ticking, and it’s almost too late to be playing catchup.

[email protected]

New NBA league in Europe moves a step closer as talks with International Basketball Federation continue.

The NBA’s talks with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and other entities about the process of adding a new league in Europe are continuing, the game’s commissioner in the United States said.

Adam Silver noted it may take at least a couple more years to turn the ideas into reality, pinpointing the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as a potential “launching pad” for another NBA competition.

He was speaking on Friday – an off day for the NBA Finals – at a league event to unveil a refurbished Boys & Girls Club in Oklahoma City and said it’s difficult to put a specific timeline on the Europe plans.

“I will say it’s measured in years, not months,” Silver said. “So, we’re at least a couple years away from launching.

“It would be an enormous undertaking. And while we want to move forward at a deliberate pace, we also want to make sure that we’re consulting with all the appropriate stakeholders, meaning the existing league, its teams, European players, media companies, marketing partners. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Silver and FIBA Secretary-General Andreas Zagklis announced in March that the league and the game’s governing body are finally taking long-awaited steps to form a new league, with an initial target of 16 teams.

The idea had been talked about for years, even decades on some levels. Silver revealed that since the NBA and FIBA went public with their idea to move forward, talks have gotten more constructive.

Silver said the NBA has been talking directly with the EuroLeague and with some member clubs about a partnership. It’s his preference that the NBA work with the existing league on some level, though it’s still too early to say exactly what that means.

“Either way, we continue to feel there are an enormous number of underserved basketball fans in Europe and that there’s a strong opportunity to have another league styled after the NBA,” Silver said.

About one in every six current NBA players hails from Europe, including Denver’s Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) – who have combined for five of the last seven MVP awards – along with the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama (France).

The NBA’s board of governors will talk more about next steps with the European plans in July, at their scheduled meeting in Las Vegas, Silver said. It’s possible that the European venture could be unveiled in some way – or possibly start – around the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, given how much attention will be on international basketball at that time.

“That might be a good launching pad for an announcement around a new competition,” Silver said.

Some of the cities that are expected to have interest in being part of the new venture include London, Manchester, Rome and Munich. There will be others, of course.

“We haven’t had direct conversations yet,” Silver said. “But there have been several organisations that have come forward and said they would be interested and potential owners in operating in those major markets in Europe.”