CUTTING COSTS

L.A. Olympics Move Two Sports to Another State

Certain athletes will compete more than 1,300 miles away.

Fans headed to Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics may need to change their plans. Two sports, softball and canoe slalom, will be held three states away, in Oklahoma City. Relocating the two sports is part of the city’s “no-build Olympics” plan, meaning no permanent venues will be constructed to accommodate the 2028 games. The “no-build Olympics” plan was designed to save money for the country’s second-largest city, which is facing a budget crisis after the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Instead, athletes participating in the canoe slalom—which involves racing canoes through a whitewater obstacle course—will compete on the Oklahoma River. Softball teams, meanwhile, will play in Oklahoma City’s Devon Park, the country’s largest softball stadium. While Los Angeles has already hosted two Olympics, in 1932 and 1984, these will be the first events held in Oklahoma City. Mayor David Holt reportedly brokered the deal after befriending then-Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti in 2018. Current Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who visited the Oklahoma River this week to view the canoe slalom course, told The New York Times, “It would have been a massive effort, costing a tremendous amount of money, to replicate what is already here.”