As part of a seismic schedule change for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, track and field, and not swimming, will lead off the Olympics. And the first day at the LA Coliseum, July 15, will include all three rounds of the women\u2019s 100 meters.<\/b>
\nIt will be a busy opening day of action at the Los Angeles Olympics for the fastest women in the world.
As part of a seismic schedule change for the 2028 Games, track and field, and not swimming, will lead off the Olympics. In releasing the detailed schedule Wednesday, organizers revealed that the first day at the LA Coliseum, July 15, will include all three rounds of the women\u2019s 100 meters.
Sprinters normally run a maximum of two races in a day at a major event. It\u2019s a change the men will not have to deal with, but that a women\u2019s field that could include the last two world champions, Sha\u2019Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, and Olympic champ Julien Alfred are being given nearly three years to prepare for.
\u201cTo be the pre-eminent event on the first night of competition in the historic LA Memorial Coliseum, I think when we presented it to the athletes that way, there was excitement,\u201d said Janet Evans, the gold-medal swimmer serving as chief athlete officer for the Los Angeles Games. \u201cA majority of athletes said to me, \u2018Just let me know. Let me know early, and I\u2019ll start training to run three 100s in one day.\u201dSwimming to take place at SoFi
Swimming has traditionally kicked off the Summer Games, but because the opening ceremony is taking place at SoFi Stadium, same as the swim meet, organizers decided to make the swap. It was not feasible to set up the pool in the stadium so quickly after the ceremony.
Evans, who won four Olympic gold medals in 1988 and 1992, said the prospect of swimming in what is largely considered LA\u2019s best new stadium in front of 38,000 fans is an opportunity her sport embraced. Also, swimmers are often forced to miss the opening because they compete the very next day.
\u201cI could probably name on my two hands the swimmers I know who have actually been to opening ceremonies,\u201d Evans said.Schedule not set up for McLaughlin-Levrone double
The schedule also makes it virtually impossible for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to try to double in both the 400 meters and the 400 hurdles.
McLaughlin-Levrone is the world-record holder and two-time defending champion in the hurdles. She took a year off from that to run in the 400 sprint this year, where at the world championships she became the first runner since 1985 to run the lap in less than 48 seconds (47.78). (Second-place finisher Marileidy Paulino also broke 48.)
McLaughlin-Levrone\u2019s coach, Bobby Kersee, had hinted at the possibility she might go for the double. In the past \u2014 most notably in 1996 when Michael Johnson won the 200 and 400 \u2014 organizers have tailored the Olympic schedule to allow marquee track athletes to try for extra medals.
Not this time, though. The 400 hurdles semifinals and 400-meter final are each scheduled for July 20.
Chief of Sport and Games Delivery Shana Ferguson said LA consulted with World Athletics in designing the schedule.
\u201cI can\u2019t speak directly to any particular athlete\u2019s schedule or how he or she is approaching the Games but we are arm and arm in the development of a contest schedule,\u201d Ferguson said<\/p>\n