One sport will be eliminated entirely from the Olympic schedule for the year 2028, and its replacement has already been decided upon.
At the Olympic Games held in Paris in 2024, the sports of breaking (also known as break dancing) and kayak cross made their debuts. Additionally, a number of other sports were brought back to the schedule.
Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is ultimately responsible for deciding whether or not to include new sports in the Games, the organisers of the upcoming Games have the ability to make suggestions for new sports or disciplines that could be included in the Games.
For this reason, there are instances in which certain sports will make their debut during a single Olympic cycle, and then they will not make another appearance for a period of four years.
There was a decision made by the organisers of the Paris 2024 event to propose breaking, which was subsequently accepted by the International Olympic Committee.
The competitions for the B-boys and the B-girls were considered to be two distinct breaking events that were featured at the Olympic Games.
In the B-girls competition, Japan emerged victorious and took home the gold medal, while Canada secured the top spot on the podium in the B-boys competition.
The controversy that surrounded Raygun, whose full name is Rachael Gunn, an Australian breakdancer who participated in the B-girls event, was, to some extent, responsible for the event’s lack of attention.
Due to the fact that she displayed some unexpected and unconventional moves throughout the competition, she was unable to score a single point in any of the three breaking battles that she participated in.
Gunn was subjected to a significant amount of online harassment and hatred, and she posted a video to Instagram in which she addressed the criticism and stated that she was “devastated” by it.
As a result of a decision that was made prior to the beginning of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the sport of breaking will not be included on the Olympic schedule for the year 2028. This decision was not connected to the Raygun controversy.
One of the sports that will be returning to the Olympic Games for the first time since the year 1900 is cricket, which will be playing in Los Angeles.
Great Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands were supposed to compete in the tournament that was scheduled to take place in the year 1900; however, the latter two countries decided to withdraw from the competition.
A one-off match between Great Britain and France was played as a consequence of this, and the British team emerged victorious in the match.
In an effort to capitalise on the growing popularity of cricket in the United States, the event organisers have decided to bring it back as a Twenty20 tournament, which will feature the most successful nations in the sport of cricket.
Except for a brief period in the early 2000s, when the United States of America qualified for the Champions League trophy, the United States of America does not have a long and successful history in the sport of cricket.
Additionally, in 2019, it was granted associate status, which is the level below that of the nations that play tests, and it has been making significant strides, both in terms of the quality of its players and the infrastructure that it possesses.
However, it also played host to a portion of the men’s Twenty20 World Cup that took place in the previous year. The United States team won the opening match against Canada, and then they went on to achieve a remarkable victory over Pakistan, which advanced them to the knockout stage, where they ultimately fell to England.
In 2020, Liam Plunkett, who won the World Cup for England in 2019, relocated to the country. Since then, he has been actively involved in the sport as a coach. Most recently, he was appointed as a director of the Cricket Impact Group (CIG), an organisation that aims to accelerate the development of cricketing across North America.
Also now a citizen of the United States, Corey Anderson, a former all-rounder for New Zealand, has been a resident of the country since the year 2020.
Major League Cricket is a franchise Twenty20 league that is played annually and was established in the United States in 2023. It is a league that attracts some of the most famous players in the world, such as Steve Smith, Jason Roy, Nicholas Pooran, and Lockie Ferguson. The two individuals have participated in this league.
“We’re basically trying to put together cricket programs in place of baseball facilities,” Plunkett said in an interview with The Independent about the rising standards in the United States that took place in the previous year.
When I first arrived in this area, I would find myself running and bowling on a baseball pitch that was located inside. If I were to bowl, I would be doing so against one of those tough baseball mannequins. We are, however, making progress. There are now a couple of academies that we have established in Philadelphia.
In cricket, a significant number of those skills are transferable from other major sports played in the United States. A significant number of the children who were raised participating in those sports are going to be successful in the field. Getting that arm to work without bending it is a challenge when it comes to the bowling aspect of things. However, if you work with some of these college athletes, I have no doubt that they will be able to make the transition themselves.
“For the girls, the hand-eye co-ordination they already have from playing softball – where the ball is really flying at you at some serious speed – is really perfect preparation for batting.”
Lacrosse, baseball, and softball, all of which are major sports in the United States, will also be returning to the Olympic Games in 2028. Other sports that will be returning include lacrosse. In addition, the sports of flag football and squash will make their debuts.
