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- All three rounds of women’s 100m to be held on day one
- Swimming to be held at opening ceremony venue SoFi Stadium
- Dynamic pricing will not be used at LA28
Los Angeles 2028 organisers have unveiled the Olympic competition schedule, with the women’s 100m final to be held on the Games’ opening night.
Athletics events are set to take place in the first week of the 2028 Olympics, swapping with swimming which will instead be held in the second. The women’s 100m will open the athletics schedule at LA Memorial Coliseum on 15th July, with all three rounds taking place that day, before the men’s 100m final follows on day two.
World Athletics noted it had consulted with its sprinters on the decision, given qualifying for the 100m is usually held on a separate day from the semi-finals and final.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said: “It is in the spirit of collaboration between World Athletics, LA28, Olympic Broadcasting Services, IOC (the International Olympic Committee) and NBC as host broadcaster that we have landed on an athletics programme that will start with a bang as our women’s sprinters take centre stage on day one and then the men’s sprinters on day two to maximise and sustain global interest after the opening ceremony.”
Swimming has been moved to the second week so it can be held at SoFi Stadium, which is co-hosting the opening ceremony alongside LA Memorial Coliseum. This will result in the final LA28 Olympics champions being crowned in swimming ahead of the closing ceremony.
The Games competition schedule, which was published on 12th November, will see the first medal event be the women’s triathlon. The opening day will feature the most women’s finals ever held on a single day, with medals also to be won in judo, fencing, kayak, shooting and rugby sevens.
Meanwhile, organisers confirmed baseball would begin prior to the opening ceremony in order to facilitate the participation of Major League Baseball (MLB) players.
The schedule also includes 26 finals in 23 sports on day 15 on 29th July, which is being dubbed as ‘Super Saturday’.
Organisers have said LA28 will be the “biggest Games ever”, with 36 sports and 51 disciplines to be held across 49 competition venues throughout the LA region and Oklahoma City.
Shana Ferguson, LA28’s chief of sport and games delivery officer, confirmed there would be 14 million tickets on offer for the Olympics and Paralympics, which would break the record set by Paris 2024.
She also added that organisers did not intend to deploy dynamic pricing for tickets. The model, where prices rise and fall depend on demand, is controversial as it can lead to inflated prices. Fifa plans to use dynamic pricing at next year’s World Cup, given it is common practice in North America.
PA Media contributed to this report
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