OTTAWA – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that baseball and softball along with four other sports have been added to the sport program for the Olympic Games that are slated to take place in Los Angeles in 2028 (LA28).
Cricket, Flag football, Lacrosse and Squash will also join the LA28 sport program.
“This announcement is met with much excitement and anticipation,” said Baseball Canada CEO Jason Dickson who represented Canada as an athlete in baseball at the Summer Olympics in 2004. “There is no bigger stage in sport than the Olympics so having the opportunity for baseball to be a part of the Olympic sport program again means a great deal to the future of our national teams’ program.”
“We are delighted that baseball and softball have been confirmed as part of the sports programme at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 by the IOC Session,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari in a news release. “The WBSC firmly believes that baseball and softball will help millions of fans engage with the Olympic Games, especially with USA being home to many of the sports’ best players and biggest stars from across the world. It is going to be an electric atmosphere in LA where the best baseball and softball athletes in the world will have the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in front of a global audience of billions.”
Baseball was an Olympic sport from 1996 until 2008 and made a brief return at Tokyo 2020 but will not be part of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Canada sent teams to compete in baseball at the Olympics in 1984 and 1988 when baseball was a demonstration sport before earning spots at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics in Athens and Beijing, respectively.
